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GEOGRAPHY    HISTORY    AND  ANTIQUITIES 

OF 

PARTHIA. 


a 


o 
CO 

B 


THE 

Sixth  Great  OmENTAL  Monarchy 

OK   THE 

^  GEOGEAPHY,  HISTORY,  AXD  ANTIQUITIES 

OF 

PARTHIA 


COLLECTED    AND    ILLUSTRATED    FROM    ANCIENT    AND 
MODERN  SOURCES. 


BY 


GEORGE  RAWLINSON,   M.A. 

lAMDBN  PBOFBS90R  OP  ANCIENT  HISTORY  IN  THE  UNTVBESITT  OF  OXFORD, 
CANON  OF  CANTKKBUET. 


NEW  YORK 
DODD,    MEAD    &    COMPANY 

Publishers 


LIBRARY 

UNTV  ERSITY  OF  CALIFORAU 

SANTA  BARBARA 


PREFACE. 


The  following  work  is  intended,  in  part,  as  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  ancient  Histoiy  of  the  East,  already 
treated  by  the  author  at  some  lenc^th  in  liis  '  Five  Great 
Monarchies :  '  but  it  is  also,  and  more  expressly,  in- 
tended as  a  supplement  to  the  ancient  History  of  the 
West,  as  that  history  is  ordinarily  presented  to  moderns 
under  its  two  recognised  divisions  of  '  Histories  of 
Greece '  and  '  Histories  of  Rome.'  Especially,  it  seemed 
to  the  wi'iter  that  the  picture  of  the  world  during  the 
Roman  period,  commonly  put  before  students  in  '  His- 
tories of  Rome,'  was  defective,  not  to  say  false,  in  its 
omission  to  recognise  the  real  position  of  Parthia 
during  the  three  most  interesting  centuries  of  that 
period,  as  a  counterpoise  to  the  power  of  Rome,  a 
second  figure  in  the  picture  not  much  inferior  to  the 
first,  a  rival  state  dividing  with  Rome  the  attention  of 
mankind  and  the  sovereignty  of  the  known  earth. 
Writers  of  Roman  history  have  been  too  much  in  the 
habit  of  representing  the  later  Republic  and  early 
Empire  as,  practically,  a  Universal  Monarchy,  a  Power 
unchecked,  unbalanced,  having  no  other  limits  than 
those  of  the  civilised  world,  engrossing  consequently 
the  whole  attention  of  all   thinking;  men,  and   fvep   to 


VI  PREFACE. 

f 

act  exactly  as  it  pleased  without  any  regard  to  opinion 
beyond  its  own  borders.  One  of  the  most  popular  ^ 
enlarges  ou  the  idea — an  idea  quite  inconsistent  with 
the  fact — that  for  the  man  who  provoked  the  hostility 
of  the  ruler  of  Rome  there  was  no  refuge  upon  the 
whole  face  of  the  earth  but  some  wikl  and  barbarous 
region,  where  refinement  was  unknown,  and  life  "would 
not  have  been  worth  having.  To  the  present  writer 
the  truth  seems  to  be  that  Rome  never  was  in  the 
position  supposed — that  from  first  to  last,  from  the 
time  of  Pompey's  Eastern  Conquests  to  the  Fall  of 
the  Empire,  there  was  always  in  the  world  a  Second 
Power,  civilised  or  semi-civilised,  which  in  a  true 
sense  balanced  Rome,^  acted  as  a  counterpoise  and  a 
check,  had  to  be  consulted  or  considered,  held  a 
place  in  all  men's  thoughts,  and  finally  furnished  a 
not  intolerable  refuge  to  such  as  had  provoked  Rome's 
master  beyond  forgiveness.  This  Po^wer  for  nearly 
three  centuries  Cb.c.  64 — a.d.  225)  was  Parthia,  after 
Avhich  it  was  Persia  under  the  Sassanian  kings.  In 
tlie  hope  of  gradually  vindicating  to  Parthia  her  true 
place  in  the  world's  liistory,  the  Autlior  has  in  his 
'Manual  of  Ancient  History  '  (published  by  the  Dele- 
gates of  the  Clarendon  Press)  placed  tlie  Parthians 
alongside  of  the  Romans,  and  treated  of  their  history 
at  a  moderate  length.  Rut  it  has  seemed  to  him  that 
something  more  was  requisite.     He  could  not  expect 


'  Gihiion  {Dediuc  and  F.tll,  vol.  i  xl.  14;  Stral).  xi.  0,  §2;  Plin.  //.  N. 
i.  ch.  iii.  sub  fin.)  v.  25;    and    llerodian,  iv.    18.)     It 

''  Tlic  ancient  writers  are  lihcral  is  surprising  that  moderns  have 
in  their  admissions  of  this  fact,  so  generally  overlooked  tliese  pas- 
(Sec  .Justin,  xli.  1,  §  7  ;     Dio    Cass.  '  sages. 


PREFACE.  Vll 

tliat  students  would  be  able  to  give  Parthia  her  proper 
place  in  their  thoughts,  unless  her  history  were  col- 
lected and  i:»ut  fortli  in  a  readable  form  with  some 
fulness.  He  has,  therefore,  employed  most  of  his 
leisure  during  the  last  two  years  in  writing  the  pre- 
sent work,  "which  he  commends  to  students  of  the 
later  Greek  and  Roman  periods  as  supplemental  to 
the  modern  Greek  and  Roman  histories  in  which 
those  periods  are  commonly  studied. 

The  Parthian  Chronology  depends  very  much  upon 
coins.  In  preparing  this  portion  of  his  work  the 
Author  has  l)een  greatly  indebted  to  aid  kindly  ren- 
dered him  by  Mr.  R,  Stuart  Poole  and  Mr.  Gardiner 
of  the  British  Museum.  The  representations  of  coins 
in  the  work  have  been,  with  one  exception,  taken  by 
the  Author  from  the  originals  in  the  National  Collec- 
tion. For  the  illustrations  of  Parthian  architecture 
and  art  he  is  indebted  to  the  published  works  of 
Mr.  Ains worth,  Mr.  Ross,  the  late  Mr.  Loftus,  and 
MM.  Flandin  and  Coste.  '  He  feels  also  bound  to 
express  his  obligations  to  the  late  Mr.  Lindsay,  the 
numismatic  portion  of  whose  work  on  Parthia^  he 
has  found  of  much  service. 

Canterbury  :  December,    1872. 


'  Iliatory  and  Coinage  of  the  Parthians,  published  at  Cork  in  1855 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Geography  of  Parthia  Proper.  Character  of  the  Region.  Climate. 
Character  of  the  surrounding  countries  .  .  .  .1 

CHAPTER  II. 

Early  notices  of  the  Parthians.  Their  Ethnic  character  and  connec- 
tions. Their  position  under  the  Persian  Monarchs,  from  Cyrus 
the  Great  to  Darius  III.   (Codomanuus)         .  .  .  .1.1 

CHAPTER  HI. 

Condition  of  Western  Asia  under  the  earlier  Seleucidas.  Revolts  of 
Bactria  and  Parthia.  Conflicting  accounts  of  the  establishment  of 
the  Parthian  Kingdom.     First  War  with  Syria  .  .  .29 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Consolidation  of  the  Parthian  Kingdom.  Death  of  Tiridates  and 
accession  of  Arsaces  HI.  Attack  on  Media.  War  of  Artabanus 
(Arsaces  HI.)  with  Antiochus  the  Great.  Period  of  inaction. 
Great  development  of  Bactrian  power.  Reigns  of  Priapatius  (Ar- 
saces IV.)  and  Phraates  I.  (Arsaces  V )         .  .  .  .52 

CHAPTER  V. 

Reign  of  Mithridales  I.  Position  of  Bactria  and  Syria  at  his  accession. 
His  tirst  War  with  Bactria.  His  great  E.xpedition  against  the  F^ast- 
ern  Syrian  provinces,  and  its  results.  His  second  war  with  Bactria, 
terminating  in  its  conquest.  Extent  of  his  Empire.  .Attempt  of 
Demetrius  Nicator  to  recover  the  lost  Provinces,  fails.  Captivity 
of  Demetrius.     Death  of  Mithridates  .  .  .  .69 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  Vr. 

PAGE 

System  of  government  established  by  Mithridates  I.  Constitution  of 
the  Parthians.  Government  of  the  Provinces.  Laws  and  institu- 
tions.    Character  of  Mithridates  I.     .  .  .  .  .84 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Reign  of  Phraates  II.  Expedition  of  Antiochus  Sidetes  against 
Parthia.  Release  of  Demetrius,  Defeat  and  death  of  Sidetes. 
War  of  Phraates  with  the  Northern  Nomads.  His  death  and  char- 
acter   .  .  .  .  •  .  .  ,  .96 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Accession  of  Artabanus  II.  Position  of  Parthia.  Growing  pressure 
upon  her,  and  general  advance  towards  the  south,  of  the  Saka  or 
Scyths.  Causes  and  extent  of  the  movement.  Character  and 
principal  tribes  of  the  Saka.  Scythic  war  of  Artabanus.  His 
death Ill 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Accession  of  IMithridates  II.  Termination  of  the  Scythic  Wars. 
Commencement  of  the  struggle  with  Armenia.  Previous  history  of 
Armenia.  Result  of  the  first  Armenian  War.  First  contact  of 
Rome  with  Parthia.  Attitude  of  Rome  towards  the  East  at  this 
time.     Second  Armenian  War.     Death  of  Mithridates  .  .   123 


CHAPTER  X. 

Dark  period  of  Parthian  History.  Doubtful  Succession  of  the  Mon- 
archs.  Accession  of  Sanatroeces,  ab.  B.C.  76.  Position  of  Parthia 
during  the  Mithridatic  Wars.  Accession  of  Phraates  TIT.  His  Re- 
lations with  Poiiipoy.  His  death.  Civil  War  between  his  two 
.sons,  Mithridates  and  Orodes.     Death  of  Mithridates  .  .  IS"] 


CHAPTER  XL 

Accession  of  Orodes  T.  Expedition  of  Crassus.  His  fate.  Retalia- 
tory im-oad  of  the  Parthians  into  Syria  under  Pacorus,  the  son  of 
Orodes.  Defeat  of  I'acorus  by  Cassiiis,  His  recall.  End  of 
first  War  with  Rome  .  .  ,  .  .  .  .150 


CONTENTS.  XI 

CHAPTER   XII. 

PAGE 

Relations  of  Orodes  with  Pompey,  and  with  Brutus  and  Cassius. 
Second  War  with  Rome.  Great  Parthian  Expedition  against  Syria, 
Palestine,  and  Asia  Minor.  Defeat  of  Saxa.  Occupation  of  Anti- 
och  and  Jerusalem.  Parthiuns  diiven  out  of  Syria  by  Yentidiui>. 
Death  of  Pacorus.     Death  of  Orodes  ....  182 

CHAPTER  Xin. 

Reign  of  Phraates  TV.  His  cruelties.  Flight  of  Monfese;  to  Antony. 
Antony's  great  Parthian  Expedition,  or  Invasion  of  Media  Atropa- 
tene.  Its  Complete  P^ailure.  Subsequent  Alliance  of  the  Median 
King  with  Antony.  War  between  Parthia  and  Media.  Rebellion 
raised  against  PIn-aates  by  Tiridates.  '  Phraates  expelled.  He  re- 
covers his  Throne  with  the  help  of  the  Scythians.  His  dealings 
with  Augustus.     His  death  and  character     .  .  .  .197 

CHAPTER  XrV'. 

Short  Reigns  of  Phraataces,  Orodes  II.,  and  Vonones  I.  Accession 
of  Artabanus  HI.  His  relations  with  Germanicus  and  Tiberius. 
His  war  with  Pharasmanes  of  Iberia.  His  first  Expulsion  from  his 
Kingdom,  and  return  to  it.  His  Peace  with  Rome.  Internal 
Troubles  of  the  Parthi  m  Kingdom.  Second  Expulsion  and  Return 
of  Artabanus.     His  Death      ......   217 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Doubts  as  to  the  successor  of  Artabanus  III.  First  short  reign  of 
Gotarzes.  He  is  expelled  and  Vardanes  made  King.  Reign  of 
Vardanes.  His  War  with  Izates.  His  Death.  Second  reign  of 
Gotarzes.  His  Contest  with  his  Xephcw,  Meherdates.  His  Death. 
Short  and  inglorious  reign  of  Vonones  II.       .  .  .  .  249 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Reign  of  Volagases  I.  His  first  attempt  on  Armenia  fails.  His 
quarrel  with  Izates.  Invasion  of  Parthia  Proper  by  the  Dahae-  and 
Sacae.  Second  Attack  of  Volajases  on  Armenia,  'i'iridatts  estab 
lished  as  King.  First  Expedition  of  Corbulo.  Half  submission 
of  Volagases.     Revolt  of  Vardanes.     Second  Expedition   of  Cor- 


XU  CONTENTS. 


bulo.  Armenia  given  to  Tigranes.  Eevolt  of  Hyrcania.  Third 
Attack  of  Volagases  on  Armenia.  Defeat  of  Ptxitus,  and  re-estab- 
lishment of  Tiridates.  Last  Expedition  of  Corbulo,  and  arrange- 
ment of  Terms  of  Peare.  Tiridates  at  Rome.  Probable  time  of 
the  Death  of  Volagases  ......    282 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Results  of  the  ostaljiishmont  of  Tiridates  in  Armenia.  Long  Period 
of  Peace  between  Parthia  and  Rome.  Obscurity  of  Parthian  His- 
tory at  this  time.  Relations  of  Volagases  I.  wiih  Vespasian.  In- 
vasion of  Western  Asia  by  the  Alani.  Death  of  Volagases  T.  and 
Character  of  his  Reign.  Accession  and  Long  Reign  of  Pacorus. 
Relations  of  Pacorus  with  Decebalus  of  Dacia.  Internal  Condition 
of  Parthia  during  his  Reign.  Death  of  Pacorus  and  Accession  of 
Chosroes         ........  287 

CHAPTER  XVIir. 

Reign  of  Chosroes.  General  condition  of  Oriental  Affairs  gives  a 
handle  to  Trajan.  Trajan's  Schemes  of  Conquest.  Embassy  of 
Chosroes  to  Trajan  fails.  Great  Expedition  of  Trajan.  Campaign 
of  A.D.  115.  Campaign  of  a.d.  IIG.  Death  of  Trajan,  and  relin- 
quishment of  his  Parthian  Conquests  by  Hadrian.  Interview  of 
Chosroes  with  Hadrian.  Its  Consequences.  Death  of  Chosroes 
and  Accession  of  Volagases  II.  ....  .  298 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Reign  of  Volagases  II.  Invasion  of  the  Alanl.  Communications  be- 
tween Volagases  and  Antoninus  Pius.  Death  of  Volagases  II.  and 
.\ccession  of  Volagases  III.  Aggressive  War  of  Volagases  III.  on 
Rome.  Campaign  of  a.d.  163.  Verus  sent  to  tiie  East.  Sequel 
of  the  War.     Losses  suffered  by  Parthia.     Death  of  Volagases  III.  319 

CHxVPTER  XX. 

Accession  of  Volagases  IV.  ITis  Alliance  sought  by  Pescennius  Ni- 
ger. Part  taken  by  Parthia  in  the  Contest  between  Niger  and 
SeveruH.  Mesopotamia  revolts  from  Rome.  First  Eastern  Expe- 
dition of  Severus.  Its  Results.  Second  Expedition.  Successes 
of  Sevcms.  His  fa'lure  at  Hatra.  General  Results  of  the  War. 
Death  of  Voiaeases  IV.  .  o  .  .  .  .   333 


CONTENTS.  XIH 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

PA.QB 

Struggle  between  the  two  Sons  of  Volagases  lY.,  Volagases  V.  and 
Artabanus.  Continued  Sovereignty  of  both  Princes.  Ambition 
of  Caracallus.  His  Proceedings  in  the  East.  His  Resolve  to 
quarrel  with  Parthia.  First  Proposal  made  by  hira  to  Artabanus. 
Perplexity  of  Artabanus.  Caracallus  invades  Parthia,  His  Suc- 
cesses, and  Death.  ,  Macrinus,  defeated  by  Artabanus,  consents  to 
Terms  of  Peace.  Revolt  of  the  Persians  under  Artaxerxes.  Pro- 
longed Struggle.  Death  of  Artabanus,  and  Downfall  of  the 
Parthian  Empire         .......  348 

CHAPTER   XXII. 
On  the  Architecture  and  Ornamental  Art  of  the  Parthians      .  .  371 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Customs  of  tlie  Parthians — in  Religion  ;  in  War  ;  in  their  Embassies 
and  Dealings  with  Foreign  Nations;  at  the  Court ;  in  Private  Life. 
Extent  of  the  Refinement  to  which  they  reached.  Their  gradual 
Decline  in  Taste  and  Knowledge       .....  398 

List  of  Authors  and  Editions  quoted  in  the  Notes        .  .  .  431 

Injex      ..,,,.,..  435 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIO]::TS. 


MAPS  AND  PLANS. 

Page 
Map  of  Parthia  Proper  ....  to  face  p.       1 

Parthian  Empire  at  its  greatest  extent  .  ,     ,,  79 

Plan  of  Hatra  (after  Ross)        ....  .  .  374 

,,        Palace-Temple  at  Ilatra  (after  Fergusson  and  Rocs)   .  .  37,5 


OTHER  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


View  of  Ruins  of  Ilatra   (from 

an  original  drawing),  to  face 

title-page. 

Coin  of  Diodotus  I. 

40 

Pliraates  I. 

63 

Obverse  of  a  Coin  of  Phraates  I. 

68 

Coins  of  Mithridates  I.  . 

69 

Mithridates  I.,  Ar.saces 

I.,  and  Artabanus  I.   , 

91 

Coin  of  Labienus 

189 

Phraataces  and  Mousa  . 

220 

Vonones  I. 

22?. 

Artabanus  III.  . 

228 

Vardanes  I. 

250 

Vardanes  II. 

269 

Pacorus  11. 

294 

Coins    of    Volagases    II.     and 

Mithridates  IV. 

296 

Coin  of  Volagases  II.     . 

320 

Parthian  sculpture  of  a  female 

head  (after  Ross) 

376 

Parthian  sculptui^,  cornice  and 

quasi-capital  (after  Ross) 
Parthian  sculpture,  frieze  over 

doorway  (af  tei-  Ross). 
Restoration     of    Palace-Temple 

at  Hatra  (after  Ainsworth)    . 
Parthian  capitals  (after  Loftus)  383 
Parthian  diapering  (ditto)  .  384 

ornamented  coffin 

(ditto) 
Parthian  statuette  (ditto) 

vases,  jugs,  and  lamps 

(ditto) 
Bas-relief    of    Gotarzes     (after 

Coste) 
Parthian  bas-relief  (ditto) 
Bas-relief  of   Magus,    probably 

Parthian  (ditto) 
Bas-relief  of  hunter  and  bear, 

probably  Parthian  (ditto) 
Parthian  kings  from  coins 


379 


380 


385 

386 

387 

389 
391 

393 

395 
415 


A  HISTORY  OF  PARTHIA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Geography   of  PartJiia  Proper.       Character   of   the   Region.       Climate. 
Character  of  the  surrounding  Countries. 

'  Parthiae  pleraque  tinium  aut  aestus  aut  f  rigoris  magnitudo  possidet,  quippe 
cum  monies  nix,  et  campos  aestus  infestet.' — Justin,  xli.  1. 

The  broad  tract  of  desert  which,  eastwaixl  of  the 
Caspian  Sea,  extends  from  the  Moughojar  hills  to  the 
Indian  Ocean,  a  distance  of  above  1,500  miles,  is 
interrupted  about  midway  by  a  strip  of  territory 
possessing  features  of  much  beauty  and  attraction. 
This  strip,  narrow  compared  to  the  desert  on  either 
side  of  it,  is  yet,  looked  at  by  itself,  a  region  of  no 
inconsiderable  dimensions,  extending,  as  it  does  from 
east  to  west,^  a  distance  of  320,  and  from  north  to 
south  of  nearly  200  miles.  The  mountain  chain, 
which  I'unning  southward  of  the  Caspian,  skirts  the 
great  ])lateau  of  Iran,  or  Persia,  on  the  north,  broadens 
out,  after  it  passes  the  south-eastern  corner  of  the  sea, 
into  a  valuable  and  productive  mountain-region.  Four 
or  five  distinct  ranges  ^  here  run  parallel  to  one 
another,  having  between  them  latitudinal  valleys,  with 
glens  transverse   to   their  courses.     The   sides  of  the 


'  The  limit,  eastward,  of  the  region  1  '  The  chief  of  these  are  known 
here  described  is  the  course  o!'  the  as  the  Daman-i-Koh,  the  Ala  Tugh, 
Heri-rud,  which  pierces  the  moun-  and  the  Jaghetai  or  Djuvein  moun- 
tain chain  in  Ion".  Gl°  E.  nearly.  tains. 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.    I. 


valleys  are  often  well  wooded  ;  ^  the  flat  ground  at  the 
foot  of  the  hills  is  fertile ;  water  abounds ;  and  the 
streams  gradually  collect  into  rivers  of  a  considerable 
size. 

The  fertile  territory  in  this  quarter  is  further  in- 
ci-eased  by  the  extension  of  cultivation  to  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  the  base  of  the  most  southern 
of  the  ranges,  in  the  direction  of  the  Great  Iranic 
desert.  The  mountains  send  down  a  number  of  small 
streams  towards  the  south ;  and  the  water  of  these, 
judiciously  husbanded  by  means  of  reservoirs  and 
hanats^  is  capable  of  spreading  fertility  over  a  broad 
belt  at  the  foot  of  the  hills  ;^  which,  left  to  nature, 
would  be  almost  as  barren  as  the  desert  itself,  into 
which  it  would,  in  fact,  be  absorbed. 

It  was  undoubtedly  in  the  region  which  has  been 
thus  l)riefly  described,  that  the  ancient  home  of  the 
Parthiaus  lay.  In  this  neighbourhood  alone  are  found 
the  geographic  names  which  the  most  ancient  writers 
wdio  mention  the  Parthians  connect  with  theni.^  Here 
evidently  the  Parthians  were  settled  ^  at  the  time  when 
Alexander  the  Great  over-ran  the  East,  and  first  made 
the  Greeks  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  Parthian 
name  and  territory.  Here,  lastly,  in  the  time  of  the 
higliest  Parthian  splendour  and  prosperity,  did  a  pro- 
vince of  the  Empire  retain  the  name  of  Parthyene,  or 
Parthia   Proper;^    and    here,   also,  in    their   palmiest 


'  See  Fraser's  Khoramn^  pp.  433, 
434,  .008,  &c. 

*  II. id.  pp.  380,  405,  40G,  &c. 

*  Herodotus  unites  the  Piirthians 
with  the  Chorasiiiians  (Khnreum)^ 
the  Sogdians,  and  tlie  Arians  {He- 
rtttces)^  and  ajrain  with  the  Hyrca- 
nians  (Gu/yha/i),  the  Haranj^ians, 
and   the    Thainaniuans  (Herod,    iii. 


93,  117).  In  the  Inscriptions  of  Da- 
riii.s,  Parthia  is  connected  with  Sa- 
rangia,  Aria,  Sagartia  (the  Iranic 
desert),  and  Ilyrcania.  (See  the 
author's  IIerodotii.%  vol.  iv.  p.  162, 
2nd  edition.) 

■*  Arri.in,  Exp.  Alex.  iii.  25. 

"  Isid.  Char.  Mans.  Parth.  §  12. 
Compare  Plin.  Jl  N.  vi.  25. 


CH.    I.]  LIMITS    OF    PARTHIA    PKOPER.  3 

days,  did  the  Parthian  kings  continue  to  have  a  capital 
and  a  residence.^ 

Parthia  Proper,  however,  was  at  no  time  coex- 
tensive with  the  region  described.  A  portion  of  that 
region  formed  the  district  called  Hyrcauia ;  and  it  is 
not  altogether  easy  to  determine  what  were  the  limits 
between  the  two.  The  evidence  goes,  on  the  whole, 
to  show  that,  while  Hyrcania  lay  towards  the  west  and 
north,  the  Parthian  country  was  that  towards  the 
south  and  east,^  the  valleys  of  the  Ettrek  and  Gurghan 
constituting  the  main  portions  of  the  former,  ^^hile  the 
tracts  east  and  south  of  those  valleys,  as  far  as  the 
sixty-first  degree  of  E.  longitude,  constituted  the 
latter. 

If  the  limits  of  Parthia  Proper  be  thus  defined,  it 
will  have  nearly  corresponded  to  the  modern  Persian 
province  of  Khorasan.  It  will  have  extended  from 
about  Damaghan  (long.  54°  10')  upon  the  west,^  to  the 
Heri-rud  upon  the  east,  and  have  com[)rised  the 
modern  districts  of  Damaghan,  Shah-rud,  Sebzawar, 
Nishapur,  Meshed,  Shebri-lS^o,  and  Tersheez.  Its 
length  from  east  to  west  will  have  been  about  300 
miles,  and  its  average  width  about  100  or  120.  It 
will  have  contained  an  area  of  al)out  33,000  square 
miles,  being  thus  about  equal  in  size  to  Ireland, 
Bavaria,  or  St.  Domingo. 

The  character  of  the  district  has  been  already  stated 
in  general  terms ;  but   some  further  particulars  may 


Ilecatorapylos.  (See  Polyb.  x.  i  western  boundary  of  Parthia  was  at 
25  ;  Strab.  ix.  9,  §  1  ;  Diod.  Sic.  ]  the  Caspian  Gates,  or  more  than  a 
xvii.  57.)  hundred    miles    further    west  than 

^  See  especially  A  rrian,  ^.r/).  Alej;.  ,  Damaghan;  but  ihe  region  immedi- 
iii.  23-25  ;  Plin.  II.  N.,  1.  s.  c.  ;  and  ately  east  of  the  Gates  is  more  com- 
Isid.  Char.  §  10-12.  monly  assigned  eitlicr  to   Hyrcania 

^  According  to  Strabo  (l.s.c),  the    or  to  Media. 


4  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY  [cil,    I. 

now  be  added.  It  consists,  in  the  first  place,  of  a 
mountain  and  a  plain  region — the  mountain  region 
lying  towards  the  north  and  the  plain  region  towards 
the  south.  The  mountain  region  is  composed  of  three 
main  ranges,  the  l)aman-i-Koh,  or  Hills  of  the  Kurds,^ 
upon  the  north,  skirting  the  great  desert  of  Kharesm ; 
the  Alatag^h  and  Meerabee  mountains  in  the  centre ; 
and  the  Jaghetai  or  Djuvein  range,  upon  the  south, 
which  may  be  regarded  as  continued  in  the  hills  above 
Tersheez  and  Khaff.  The  three  ranges  are  parallel, 
running  east  and  west,  but  with  an  inclination,  more 
or  less  strong,  to  the  north  of  west  and  the  south  of 
east.  The  northern  and  central  ranges  are  connected 
by  a  water-shed,  which  runs  nearly  east  and  west,  a 
little  to  the  south  of  Kooshan,  and  separates  the  head 
streams  of  the  Ettrek  from  those  of  the  Meshed  river. 
The  central  and  southern  ranges  are  connected  by  a 
more  decided  mountain  line,  a  transverse  ridge  which 
runs  neai'ly  north  and  south,  dividing  between  the 
waters  that  flow  westward  into  the  Gurghan,  and  those 
which  form  the  river  of  Nishapur.  This  conformation 
of  the  mountains  leaves  between  the  ranges  three 
principal  valleys,  the  valley  of  Meshed  towards  the 
south-east,  loetween  the  Kurdish  range  and  the  Alatagh 
and  Meeral)ee ;  that  of  Miyanabad  towards  the  west, 
between  the  Alatao^h  and  the  Jas^hetai ;  and  that  of 
Nisliapur  towards  the  south,  l)etween  the  eastern  end 
of  the  Jaghetai  and  the  Avestern  flank  of  the  Meerabee. 
As  the  valleys  are  three  in  number,  so  likewise  are  the 


'  Shall  Abbas  the  First  trans-  against  the  Usbegs  and  other  Tatar 
planted  about  15,000  Kurds  from  ;  trihes.  The  descendants  of  these 
the  Turkish  frontier  to  Khorasan,  1  colonists  still  occupy  most  of  the 
and  setth^l  them  in  (he  mountain  j  range  between  the  Meshed  valley 
region,    that   they   might   guard    it    and  the  Kharesmian  desert. 


CII.    l]  IUVEKS    of    rAIlTIIIA.  5 

rivers,  wLicli  are  known  i-espectively  as  the  Tejend,  or 
I'iver  of  Meshed,  the  river  of  Nisliapiir,  and  the  river 
of  Miyanabad.^ 

The  Tejend,  which  is  the  principal  stream  of  the 
tliree,  rises  from  several  sources  in  the  hills  south  of 
Kooshan,  and  flows  Avith  a  south-easterly  course  down 
the  valley  of  Meshed,  receiving  numerous  tributaries 
from  both  sides,^  until  it  reaches  that  city,  when  it 
bends  eastward,  and  finding  a  way  through  the  Kurd- 
ish range.  Joins  the  course  of  the  Heri-rud,  about 
long.  61°  10'.  Here  its  direction  is  completely  changed. 
Turning  at  an  angle,  which  is  slightly  acute,  it  proceeds 
to  flow  to  the  west  of  north,  along  the  northern  base 
of  the  Kurdish  rano-e,  from  which  it  receives  numerous 
small  streams,  till  it  ends  finally  in  a  large  swamp  or 
mai'sh,  in  lat.  39°,  long.  57°,  nearly,^  The  entire 
length  of  the  stream,  including  only  main  windings,  is 
about  475  miles.  In  its  later  course,  however,  it  is 
often  almost  dry,  the  greater  portion  of  the  water 
being:  consumed  in  irrig^ation  in  the  neiorhbourhood  of 
Meshed. 

The  rivei"  of  Nishapur  is  formed  by  numerous 
small  streams,  which  descend  from  the  mountains  that 
on  three  sides  inclose  that  city.  Its  water  is  at  times 
wholly  consumed  in  the  cultivation  of  the  plain  ;  but 
the  natural  course  may  be  traced,  running  in  a  southerly 
and  south-westerly  direction,  until  it  debouches  from 
the  hills  in  the  vicinity  of  Tersheez. 

The  IMiyanabad  stream  is  believed  to  be  a  tributary 
of  the  Gurghan.     It  rises  from  several  sources  in  the 


'  Fraser,  Khorasan,  p.  55i.  I  side  of  the  valley,   about    twenty- 

"^  One  of  the  chief  of  these  con-    five  miles  above  Meshed. 

veys  to  the  Tejend   the   winters   of        ^  Vambery,      Travels    in    Central 

the  Tchcxhma   Gilass,  a  small    lake  I  Asia,  Map. 

beautifully   clear,    on    the    western  | 


6  TllE    SIXTH    MOIST AECIIY.  [CH.    I. 

transverse  range  joining  tlie  Alatagli  to  the  Jaglietai, 
the  streams  from  Avhich  all  flow  westward  in  narrow 
valleys,  nnitiDg  about  long.  57°  35'.  The  course  of 
the  river  from  this  point  to  Piperne  has  not  been 
traced,  l)ut  it  is  believed  to  run  in  a  general  westerly 
direction  along  the  southern  base  of  the  Alatagh,  and 
to  form  a  Junction  with  the  Gurghan  a  little  below  the 
ruins  of  the  same  name.  Its  length  to  this  point  is 
probably  about  200  miles. 

The  elevation  of  the  mountain  chains  ir?  not  great. 
No  very  reraarkalde  peaks  occur  in  them  ;  and  it  may 
be  doubted  whether  they  anywhere  attain  a  height  of 
above  6,000  feet.  They  are  for  the  most  part  barren 
and  rugged,  very  scantily  supplied  'with  timber,^  and 
only  in  places  capable  of  furnishing  a  tolerable  pas- 
turage to  flocks  and  herds.  The  valleys,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  rich  and  fertile  in  the  extreme ;  that  of 
Meshed,  which  extends  a  distance  of  above  a  hundred 
miles  from  north-west  to  south-east,  and  is  from 
twenty  to  thirty  miles  broad,  has  almost  everywhere  a 
good  and  deep  soil,^  is  abundantly  supplied  with 
water,  and  yields  a  plentiful  return  even  to  the  simjilest 
and  most  primitive  cultivation.  The  plain  al)out 
Nishapur,  which  is  in  length  from  eighty  to  ninety 
miles,  and  in  width  fi-om  forty  to  sixty,  boasts  a  still 
greater  fertility.'^ 

Tlie  flat  counti'y  along  the  southern  base  of  the 
mountains,  which    ancient  writers  regard    as    Parthia 

'  In  this  respect  the  mountains  j  are  almost  destitute  of  trees.  (Fra- 
of  ancient  J*artliia  present  a  stiong  .ser,  pp.  ■p)7,  470,  &c.) 
contrast  to  those  of  the  neighbour-  '•  Evin  where  the  suiface  was 
ing  ll3iTania.  Tiic  l)anl<s  of  t!ie  gravel.  M'.  Fraser  noticed  'a  richer 
Gurgliiin  and  Fttrek  ar^  richly  . stratum  henciUli  '  ([).  550). 
wooded  (Fraser,  pp.  5!)'.)-(;02 ;  .\r  •'  Kinneir,  Prrnid/i  Jinipirc,  pp. 
rian,  Exp.  Alc.r.  iii.  2:J)  ;  while;  185,  Ik^'i;  Fraser,  K/iomsan,  pp. 
the  mountains  of  eastern  Khorasan    405,  406. 


CH.    I.]  CHARACTER    OF    THE    COUNTRY.  7 

par  exa'llence^  is  a  strip  of  territory  about  300  miles 
long,  varying  in  width  according  to  the  laV)0ur  and  the 
skill  a])plied  by  its  inhabitants  to  the  perfecting  of  a 
system  of  irrigation.  At  present  the  JcanatSj  or  under- 
ground water-coui'ses,  are  seldom  carried  to  a  distance 
of  more  than  a  mile  or  two  from  the  foot  of  the  hills  ; 
but  it  is  thought  that  anciently  the  cultivation  was 
extended  considerably  further.  Kuined  cities  dis- 
persed throughout  the  tract^  sufficiently  indicate  its 
capabilities,  and  in  the  few  places  where  much  atten- 
tion is  paid  to  agriculture,  the  results  are  such  as  to 
imply  that  the  soil  is  more  than  ordinarily  productive.^ 
The  salt  desert  lies,  however,  in  most  places  within  ten 
or  fifteen  miles  of  the  hills ;  and  be3'ond  this  distance 
it  is  obviously  impossible  that  the  '  Atak '  or  '  Skirt ' 
should  at  any  time  have  been  habitable.^ 

It  is  evident  that  the  ^entire  tract  above  described 
must  have  been  at  all  times  a  valuable  and  much 
coveted  region.  Compared  with  the  arid  and  in- 
hospitable deserts  which  adjoin  it  upon  the  north  and 
south,  Khorasan,  the  ancient  Parthia  and  Hyrcania,  is  a 
terrestrial  Paradise.  Parthia,  though  scantily  wooded,^ 
still  joroducesin places  thepine,  the  walnut, the  sycamore, 
the  ash,  the  poplar,  the  willow,  the  vine,  the  mull:>erry, 
the  apricot,  and  numerous  other  fruit  trees.*'  Saffron, 
assafcetida,  and  the  gum  ammoniac  plant,  are  indi- 
genous in  parts  of  it."     Much  of  the  soil  is  suited  fur 

'  Plin.  77.  N.  vi.  25.  |  Arian  daman,  which  has  the  same 

*  As    Bostnm    (Fraser.    p.    336),     application  and  meaning.     (Fraser, 
Khyzabad  (Iljid.  p.  859),  and  others.  ;  p.  245.; 


(H)id.  pp.  373,  374,  380,  &c, 

'  Kinneir,    p.    185;    Fraser,    pp. 

343,  379,  &c. 

*  Tlie   name   '  Atak '  is  given  to 

the   .skirts   of  the  mountains   both 

north  and  south  of   Parthia.     It  is 


the  Turanian  correspondent  of  the    pcndix,  p.  25. 


See  above,  p.  6,  note  '.  Yet 
Strabo  says  (xi.  9,  §  1)  that  it  was 
'  thicklv  wooded  '  {iaaela). 

"  Fraser.  pp.  401,  405,  432,  433, 
436,  &c.  ;  Kinneir,  p.  175. 

'  Kinneir,    p.    185  ;    Fraser,    Ap- 


8  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [cil.    I. 

the  cultivation  of  wlieat,  barley,  and  cotton.^  The 
ordinary  retui*n  upon  wheat  and  barley  is  reckoned  at 
ten  for  one.^  Game  abounds  in  the  mountains,  and 
fish  in  the  undero^round  water-courses.^  Aniono: 
the  mineral  treasures  of  the  region  may  be  enumerated 
copper,  lead,  iron,  salt,"*  and  one  of  tlie  most  exquisite 
of  gems,  the  turquoise.^  This  gem  does  not  appear 
to  be  mentioned  by  ancient  writers ;  but  it  is  so  easily 
obtainable,  that  we  can  scarcely  suppose  it  was  not 
known  from  very  ancient  times. 

The  severity  of  the  climate  of  Pai-tliia  is  strongly 
stated  by  Justin.^  According  to  modern  travellers, 
the  winters,  though  protracted,  are  not  very  inclement, 
the  thermometer  rarely  sinking  l)elow  ten  or  eleven 
degrees  of  Fahrenheit  during  the  nights,"  and  during 
the  daytime  rising,  even  in  December  and  January,^ 
to  40°  or  50°.  The  cold  weather,  liowever,  which 
commences  about  October,  continues  till  nearly  the  end 
of  March,  when  storms  of  sleet  and  liail  are  common.^ 
Much  snow  falls  in  the  earlier  portion  of  the  winter, 
and  the  valleys  are  scarcely  clear  of  it  till  March.  On 
the  mountains  it  remains  nuich  longer,  and  forms  the 
chief  source  of  supply  to  the  rivers  during  the  sj)ring 
and  the  early  summer  time.  In  summer  the  heat  is 
considerable,  more  especially  in  the  region  known  as 
the  'Atak;'  and  here,  too,  the  unwholesome  w4nd, 
which  blows  from  the  southern  desert,  is  felt  from  time 


'  Fraser,  pp.  319,  379,  &c.  |      ^  On  the  turquoise  mines  of  Nish- 

"^  So  Fra.ser,    p.  335.     Macd  nald  apur,   sec  Fraser,   ch.   xvi.  pp.  407- 

Kinneir,    with    unwonted    cxtniva  417. 

gance,    speaks   of  the  return    fr..ni  „  g^^^  ^,^^     ^                   ^^^  ^^  ^,^g 

dry  gram  ben,-  a  hum  red,  and  from  ^^,^^^j  ^^^  ^,,^  ^j,     ^^,. 

rice    lour    hinnlred   fold!      { Icrxtait 

Eiii]>lre,  p.   17.S.)  '   Fraser,  A|jp^ndix,   p.  134. 

;  !^':^'^^'>  I'P-  'i^^  '^'"1  ^^^'-       .,,.         ^  Ihid.  pp.  303,  343,  and  581. 
'  Kinneir,  p.  184 ;  J^raser,  pp.  •)•>(,  '•  ' 

371,  413,  431,  Sec.  ,      "   ihid.  pp.  430,  552,  and  554. 


OH.    l]  border    districts — CHORASMIA.  9 

to  time  as  a  temV)le  scourge.^  But  in  the  nplantl  country 
the  heat  is  at  no  time  very  intense,  and  the  natives  boast 
that  they  are  not  compelled  by  it  to  sleep  on  their 
house-tops  during  more  than  one  month  in  the  year.^ 

The  countries  by  which  Parthia  Proper  was  bound- 
ed were  the  following :  Chorasmia,  Margiana,  Aria, 
Sarangia,  Sagartia,  and  Hyrcania. 

Chorasmia  lay  upon  the  north,  consisting  of  the 
low  tract  l)etween  the  most  northerly  of  the  Parthian 
mountain  chains  and  the  old  course  of  the  Oxus. 
This  region,  which  is  for  the  most  part  an  arid  and 
inhospitable  desert,^  can  at  no  time  have  maintained 
more  than  a  sparse  and  scanty  population.  The  Tur- 
koman tribes  which  at  the  present  day  roam  over  the 
waste,  feeding  their  flocks  and  herds  alternately  on  the 
banks  of  the  Oxus  and  the  Tejend,  or  finding  a  bare 
subsistence  for  them  about  the  ponds  and  pools  left  by 
the  winter  rains,  represent,  it  is  probable,  with  sufficient 
faithfulness,  the  ancient  inhabitants,  who,  whatever 
their  race,  must  always  have  been  nomads,  and  can 
never  have  exceeded  a  f  ew^  hundred  thousands.^  On  this 
side  Parthia  must  always  have  been  tolerably  safe  from 
attacks, unless  the  Cis-Oxianian  tribes  were  reinforced,  as 
they  sometimes  were,  by  hordes  from  l)eyond  the  river. 


>  Kinneir,  p.  170. 
*  Fraser.  p.  557. 


verdure   nor   vegetation  cheers  the 
sight,  except  here  and  there  at  long 


Vaniber}-  calls  it  'that  immense  intervals  some  spots  on  which  there 
awful  desert  where  the  traveller  m:iy  grow  a  few  stunted  shrubs.'  (See 
wander  about  for  weeks  and  weeks  j  De  Hell's  Travels  in  thfi  ^^teppes  of 
witliout  finding  a  drop  of  sweet  the  Caspian  Sea,  p.  326,  E.  T.) 
water,  or  the  shelter  of  a  single  *  M.  Vamberj'^  reckons  the  entire 
tree'  {Travels,  p.  302).  MouraviefF  Turkoman  population  south  of  the 
says:  'This  country  exhibits  the  Oxus  from  the  Caspian  to  Balkh  at 
image  of  death,  or  "rather  of  the  196,500  tents,  or  (182,500  souls, 
desolation  left  behind  by  a  great]  {Travels,  p.  309.)  Chorasmia  was 
convulsion  of  nature.  Neither  birds  ,  not  more  than  about  one-half  of  this 
nor  quadrupeds  are  found  in  it;  no  I  region. 


10 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.    I. 


On  the  nortli-east  was  Margiana,  sometimes  regarded 
as  a  country  by  itself,  sometimes  reckoned  a  mere 
district  of  Bactria,^  This  was  tlie  tract  of  fertile  land 
upon  the  Murg-ab,  or  ancient  Margus  river,  which  is 
known  among  moderns  as  the  district  of  Merv.  The 
Murg-ab  is  a  stream  flowing  from  the  range  of  the 
Paropamisus,  in  a  direction  which  is  a  little  east  of 
north ;  it  deljouches  from  the  mountains  in  about 
lat.  3G°  25',  and  thence  makes  its  w^ay  through  the 
desert.  Before  it  reaches  Merv,  it  is  eighty  yards 
wide  and  five  feet  deep,^  thus  carrying  a  vast  body  of 
water.  By  a  judicious  use  of  dykes  and  canals,  this 
fertilizino;  fluid  was  in  ancient  times  carried  to  a  dis- 
tance  of  more  than  twenty-five  miles  from  the  natural 
course  of  the  river ;  and  by  these  means  an  oasis  was 
created  with  a  circumference  of  al)o^■e  170,  and  con- 
sequently a  diameter  of  above  fifty  miles.^  This  tract, 
inclosed  on  every  side  by  deserts,  was  among  the  most 
fertile  of  all  known  regions ;  it  was  especially  famous 
for  its  vines,  which  grew  to  such  a  size  that  a  single 
man  could  not  encircle  their  stems  with  his  two  arms, 
and  boi'e  clustei's  that  were  a  yard  long,"*  Margiana 
possessed,  however,  as  a  separate  country,  little  mili- 
tary strength,  and  it  Avas  only  as  a  portion  of  some 
larger  and  more  populous  territory  that  it  could  be- 
come formidable  to  the  Parthians. 

South    of    Margiana,  and   adjoining    upon    Parthia 


'  Tn  the  Behistiin  Inscription  Da- 
rius evidently  includes  Margiana 
{MfirrjiiHh)  in  Bactria  (col.  iii.  p;ir. 
3,  4).  Strabo,  however  (xi.  10.  §2), 
Ptolemy  (vi.  1 1),  and  I.sidorc  (Mans. 
Parth.  §  14)  inaiic  it  a  separate 
country. 

'■'  See  the  Map  to  Vanib6ry's 
Travch. 


^  Strab.  xi.  10,  §2.  There  seems 
no  reason  to  doubt  this  statement, 
though  Mr.  Frascrsuppo.se.-;  that  the 
irrigation  could  nevur  have  been 
carried  to  a  much  greater  distance 
than  twelve  or  fourteen  miles. 
(lOioraHun,  App.  p.  50.) 

*  Strab.  1.  s.  c. 


(II.    ].]         MARGIANA,  ARIA,  SARANGIA,  SAGARTIA. 


n 


towards  the  east,  was  Aria,  tlie  tract  which  lies  about 
the  modern  Herat.  This  w^as  for  the  most  part  a 
mountain  region,  very  similar  in  its  general  character 
to  the  mountainous  portion  of  Parthia,^  but  of  luuch 
smaller  dimensions.^  Its  people  were  fairly  warlike  ; 
but  the  Parthian  population  was  probably  double  or 
triple  their  numl)er,  and  Parthia  consequently  had  but 
little  to  fear  in  this  quarter. 

Upon  the  south-east  Parthia  was  bordered  by 
Sarangia,  the  country  of  the  Sarangge,  or  Drangse. 
This  appears  to  have  l)een  the  district  south  of  the 
Herat  valley,  reaching  thence  as  far  as  the  Hamoon,  or 
Sea  of  Seistan.  It  is  a  country  of  hills  and  downs,^ 
watered  by  a  number  of  somewhat  scanty  streams, 
w^hich  flow  south-westwards  from  the  Paropamisus  to 
the  Hamoon.  Its  population  can  never  have  been 
great,  and  they  'were  at  no  time  aggressive  or  enter- 
prising, so  that  on  this  side  also  the  Parthians  were 
secure,  and  had  to  deal  with  no  formidable  neighbour. 

Sagartia  succeeded  to  Sarangia  towards  the  west, 
and  Ijordered  Parthia  alono;  almost  the  whole  of  its 
southern  frontier.  Excepting  in  the  vicinity  of  Tebbes 
and  Toun^  (lat.  34°,  long.  56°  to  58°),  this  district  is 
an  absolute  desert,  the  haunt  of  the  o-azelle  and  the 
wdld  ass,^  dry,  saline,  and  totally  devoid  of  vegetation. 
The  wild  nomads,  who  wandered  over  its  wastes, 
obtaining  a  scanty  subsistence  by  means  of  the  lasso,^ 


'  See  Ferrier,  Caravan  Journeys, 
pp.  139,  165 ;  Fraser,  Ehorasan, 
App.  pp.  30-33;  Vamb^ry,  pp.  257- 
270. 

^  Strabo  gives  Aria  a  length  of 
2,000  stades  (230  miles,  and  a 
breadth  of  300  stades  (35  miles). 
This    would    make  its   area   about 


8,000  square  miles,  or  less  than  one- 
third  of  the  area  of  Parthia  (supra, 
p.  3). 

*  Ferrier,  Caravan  Journeys,    pp. 
273,  274. 

*  Fraser,  p  24:6,  and  App.  p.  24. 
"  Vambery,  p.  288. 

"  Herod,  vii.  85.     If  the   Sagar- 


12  THE    SIXTH    MONAECIIY.  [cil.   I. 

were  few  in  numher,^  scattered,  and  probably  divided 
by  feuds.  Southern  Partliia  might  occasionally  suffer 
from  their  raids ;  but  tliey  were  far  too  weak  to  con- 
stitute a  serious  danger  to  the  mountain  country. 

Lastly,  towards  the  west  and  the  north-west,  Parthia 
was  boi-dered  l)y  ITyrcania,  a  I'egion  geographically  in 
the  closest  connection  with  it,  very  similar  in  general 
character,  Init  richer,  warmer,  and  altogether  more 
desirable.  ITyrcania  was,  as  already  observed,^  the 
western  and  north-western  portion  of  that  broad  moun- 
tain region  Avhich  has  been  described  as  intervening 
between  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Caspian  and  the 
river  i\jius,  or  Heri-rud.  It  consisted  mainly  of  the 
two  rich  valleys  of  the  Gurghan  and  Ettrek,  with  the 
mountain  chains  enclosing  or  dividing  them.  Here  on 
the  slopes  of  the  hills  grow  the  oak,  the  beech,  the 
elm,  the  alder,  the  wild  cherry  ;  here  luxuriant  vines 
spring  from  the  soil  on  every  side,  raising  themselves 
aloft  ])y  the  aid  of  their  stronger  sisters,  and  hanging 
in  \vild  festoons  from  tiee  to  tree;  beneath  their  shade 
the  ground  is  covered  with  flowers  of  various  kinds, 
primroses,  violets,  lilies,  hyacinths,  and  others  of  un- 
known species ;  while  in  the  flat  land  at  the  bottom 
of  the  valleys  ai'e  meadows  of  the  softest  and  the 
tenderest  grass,  capable  of  aflbrding  to  numerous 
flf^cks  and  herds  an  excellent  and  unfailing  pasture.^ 
Abundant  game  finds  shelter  in  the  foi'ests,'*  while 
towards  the  mouths  of  the  riveis,  wlieie  the  ground  is 
for  the  most  part  marshy,  large  lierds  of  \vild  boars 

tians  used  the  las'o  in  war,  we  may  I  the  field  by  the  Sagartians.    (ITerod. 

be  sure  that,  like  the  inhabitants  of    1.  s.  c.) 

the  I'ampMri,  they  ein|)l()3fd  it  also  j       ^  See  above,  p.  3. 

in    peace,    to   ca|)tine    the    animals  j      ^  Sec  the  graphic  descriptions  of 

which  they  huiiti'd.  Mr.  Fraser  (Khorasaii,  pp.  59!),  000, 

'  Eight  thousand   is    the    largest    COS,  &c ) 
number  which  we  find  brouj^ht  into  '       *  Ibid.  p.  GIG. 


CH.    I.]      POSITION  OF  PAKTHIA  J-'AVOLKED  IIEK  RISE.  13 

are  frequent ;  a  single  herd  sometimes  containing 
hundreds.^  Altogether  Hyrcauia  was  a  most  pro- 
ductive and  desirable  country,  capable  of  sustaining  a 
dense  population,  and  ^vell  deserving  Strabo's  descrip- 
tion of  it  as  '  highly  favoured  of  Heaven.'  ~  The  ai-ea 
of  the  country  was,  however,  small  ;^  probably  not 
much  exceeding  one-half  that  of  Parthia  Proper ;  and 
thus  the  people  were  not  sufficiently  numerous  to 
cause  the  Parthians  much  apprehension. 

The  situation  and  character  of  Parthia  thus,  on  the 
whole,  favoured  her  becoming  an  imperial  power. 
She  had  abundant  resources  within  herself;  she  had  a 
territory  apt  for  the  production  of  a  hardy  race  of 
men  ;  and  she  had  no  neio;hbours  of  sufficient  strength 
to  keep  her  down,  when  she  once  developed  the  desire 
to  become  dominant.  Surprise  has  been  expressed  at 
her  rise.'*  But  it  is  perhaps  more  astonishing  that  she 
passed  so  many  centuries  in  obscurity  before  she  be- 
came an  important  state,  than  that  she  raised  herself 
at  last  to  the  first  position  among  the  Oiiental  nations. 


'  YambCry,  p.  72.  1  cation  as  running  along   the  nioun-_ 

"  2^6(5p«  eidn'/iuf  (Strab.  xi.  7,  tains  south  of  the  Gurghan.  thence 
§2).  According  to  this  writer,  a  I  passing  to  the  Alatagh,  and  proceed- 
singlc  vine  in  Hyrcania  produced  a  ing  along  the  wattr-shed  south  of 
metretes  (nine  gallons)  of  wine,  a  Kooshan  to  the  Kurdish  range  about 
single  fig-tree  produced  sixty  me-  IMohamniedabad,  the  proportions  of 
climni  (ninety  bushi  Is)  of  figs,  and  ,  the  two  will  be  as  stated  in  the  text, 
corn  did  not  require  to  be  sown,  '  ^  See  Justin,  xli.  1.  'Hi  et 
but  sprang  from  the  casual  droppings  Assyrioruni  et  Medorum  temporibus 
of  the  last  years  crop.  !  inter  Oricntis  populos    obscurissimi 

^  When  Hyrcania  is  called  by  fuere.  Po.stea  quoque  cum  imperium 
Straho  'large'  (-n/vj/),  he  intends  Orientis  a  Medis  ad  Persas  transla- 
te compare  it,  not  with  Parthia,  but  turn  est,  veluti  vulgus  sine  nomine, 
with  the  small  districts  occupied  by  prajda  victorum  fuere.  Postremo 
separate  tril)es  a'ong  the  south  coast  \  Maced.mibus,  triuntphato  Oriente. 
of  the  Caspian  Sea  (Strabo,  xi.  7,  servierunt:  id  c>/ivis  mirum  vidca- 
§1,2).  A  comparison  of  it  with  Par-  tnr  ad  tantam  eos  felicitatem  pro- 
thia  is  difficult,  owing  to  the  uncer-  vectos,  ut  imperent  gentibus,  sub 
tainty  of  their  respt  ctive  boundaries ;  quarum  imperio  veluti  servile  vulgus 
but  if  we  regard  the  line  of  demar-    fuere.' 


14  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    I. 

Her  ambition  and  her  material  strength  were  plants 
of  slow  growth  ;  it  took  several  hundreds  of  years  for 
them  to  attain  maturity  :  when,  however,  this  point  was 
reached,  the  circumstances  of  her  geographical  position 
stood  her  in  good  stead,  and  enabled  her  rapidly  to 
extend  her  way  over  the  greater  portion  of  Western 
Asia. 


CH.    U.]         EARLY    NOTICES    OF   THE    PARTHIANS. 


15 


CHAPTER   11. 


Early  notices  of  the  Parthiana.  Their  Ethnic  character  and  connections. 
Their  position  under  the  Persian  Monarchs,  from  Cyrus  the  Great  to 
Darius  III.  [Codomannus). 

UdpOcju  yevoS  IIkvOikov. — Arrian,  Fr.  1. 

The  Parthiaiis  do  not  appear  in  liistoiy  iHitil  a  com- 
paratively recent  period.  Their  name  occiii-s  nowhere 
in  tlie  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  They  obtain  no 
mention  in  the  Zendavesta.  The  Assyrian  Inscriptions 
are  wholly  silent  concerning  them.  It  is  not  nntil  the 
time  of  Darius  Hystaspis  that  we  have  trustworthy 
evidence  of  their  existence  as  a  distinct  people.^  In 
the  inscriptions  of  this  king  we  find  their  country 
included  under  the  name  of  Partliva  or  P<ii-tliu:a 
among  the  provinces  of  the  Persian  Empire,  joined  in 
two  places  with  Sarangia,  Aria.Chorasmia,  Bactria,  and 
Sogdiana,^  and  in  a  third  with  these  same  countries 
and  Sagai'tia.^  AVe  find,  moreover,  an  account  of  a 
rebellion  in  which  the  Parthians  took  part.  In  the 
troubles  which  broke  out  upon  tlie  death  of  the 
Pseudo-Smerdis,  B.C.  521,  Parthia  levolted,  in  con- 
junction (as  it  would  seem)  with  Ilyrcania,  espousing 
the  cause  of  that  Median  jiretender,  who,  declaring 
himself  a  descendant  of  the  ohl  ^Median  monarchs,  set 


'  Dioiloius  enumerates  the  Par- 
thians anion^  the  nations  conquered 
by  Niims  (ii.  2,  §  3),  and  also  says 
that  in  the  time  of  Cyaxares  thej^ 
revolted  (rom  the  ]Medes  and  placed 
themselves  under  Scythian  protec- 
tion.    But  no  value  can  be  set  upon 


these  stories,  which  he  adopted  from 
the  untrustworihy  Ctesias. 

-  See  Behist.  Ins.  col.  i.  par.  6, 
and  Nnkhsh-i-R'ixtam  Ins.  par.  3. 

'  See  the  grent  inscription  of  Da- 
rius at  Perscpolis,  par.  2,  §  3. 


16 


THE    SIXTH    JIONARCIIY. 


[cn.   II. 


himself  up  as  a  I'ival  to  Darius.  Hytaspes,  tlie  father 
of  Darius,  held  at  this  time  the  Parthian  satrapy.  In 
two  battles  within  the  limits  of  his  j^rovince  he  de- 
feated the  rebels,  who  must  have  brought  into  the 
field  a  considerable  force,  since  in  one  of  the  two 
engagements  they  lost  in  killed  and  prisoners  between 
10,000  and  11,000  men.  After  tbeir  second  defeat 
the  Parthiaus  made  their  submission,  and  once  more 
acknowledgecb Darius  for  their  sovereign.-' 

With  these  earliest  Oriental  notices  of  the  Parthians 
agree  entirely  such  passages  as  contain  any  mention  of 
them  in  the  more  ancient  literature  of  the  Greeks. 
Hecatseus  of  Miletus,  who  was  contemporary  with 
Darius  Hystaspis,  made  the  Parthians  adjoin  upon  the 
Chorasmians  in  the  account  which  he  gave  of  the 
geography  of  Asia.^  Herodotus  spoke  of  them  as  a 
peoj^le  subject  to  the  Persians  in  the  reign  of  Darius, 
and  assigned  them  to  the  sixteenth  satrapy,  which 
comprised  also  the  Arians,  the  Sogdians,  and  the 
Chorasmians.^  He  said  that  they  took  part  in  the 
expedition  of  Xerxes  against  Greece  (u.c.  480), 
serving  in  the  army  on  foot  under  the  same  com- 
mander as  the  Chorasmians,  and  equipped  like  them 
with  bows  and  arrows,  and  ^vith  spears  of  no  great 
length."*  In  another  passage  he  mentioned  their  being 
compelled  to  pay  the  Persian  water  tax,  and  spoke  of 
the  great  need  which  they  had  of  water  for  the  irri- 
gation of  tlieir  millet  and  sesame  crops.^ 

It  is  evident  tliat  these  notices  agree  with  the 
Persian  accounts,  both  as  to  the  locality  of  the  Par- 
thians and  as  to  the  fact  of  their  subjection  to  the 


'  Behid.  Ins.  col.  ii.  par. 
col.  iii.  par.  1. 
••'  Fr.  173. 


16,   and 


'  Herod,  iii.  93. 

*  Ibid.  vii.  G6.    Compare  chap.  64. 

"  Ibid.  iii.  117. 


CII.    II.]        EARLY    NOTICES    OF    THE    PAIITHIANS.  17 

Persian  govei'ninent.  They  furtlier  agree  in  assigning 
to  tlie  Parthians  a  respectable  military  character,  yet 
one  of  no  very  special  eiuinency.  On  the  ethnology 
of  the  nation,  and  the  circumstances  under  which  the 
country  became  an  integral  part  of  the  Persian  do- 
minions, thev  throAY  no  lisrht.  We  have  still  to  seek 
an  answer  to  the  questions,  '  AVho  were  the  Par- 
thians?' and  'How  did  they  become  Persian  sub- 
jects?' 

Who  Avere  the  Parthians  ?  It.  is  not  until  the  Par- 
thians have  emerged  fi'om  obscurity  and  become  a 
great  people  that  ancient  authors  trouble  themselves 
with  in(|uiries  as  to  their  ethnic  character  and  remote 
antecedents.  Of  the  first  writers  who  take  the  subject 
into  their  consideration,  some  are  content  to  say  that 
the  Parthians  were  a  race  of  Scyths,  who  at  a  remote 
date  had  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  nation,  and 
had  occupied  the  southern  ^^ortion  of  the  Chorasraian 
desert,  whence  they  had  gradually  made  themselves 
masters  of  the  mountain  region  adjoining  it.^  Others 
added  to  this,  that  the  Scythic  tribe  to  which  they 
belonged  was  called  the  Dallas ;  that  their  own  proper 
name  Avas  Parni,  or  Aparni ;  and  that  they  had 
migrated  origin  ally 'from  the  country  to  the  north  of 
the  Palus  ^Mseotis,  where  they  bad  left  the  great  mass 
of  their  fellow  tribesmen.^  Subsequent!}",  in  the  time 
of  the  Antonines,  the  theory  was  started  that*  the 
Parthians  were  Scyths,  whom  Sesostris,  on  his  return 
from  his  -Scythian  expedition,  brought  into  Asia  and 
settled  in  the  mountain-tract  lying  east  of  the  Caspian.'* 

It  can  scarcely  be  thought  that  these  notices  have 


'  As   Trogus   Pompeius,    who  is  i      ^  Strab.  xi.   9,   §  3.     Compare  xi. 
followed  by  Justin  (xli.  I).  I  8,  §  2.  '  Arrian,  Fr.  1. 


18  THE  SIXTH  monarchy.  [ch.  ii. 

very  much  liist(3i'ical  value.  Moderns  are  generally 
agreed  that  the  Scythian  conquests  of  Sesosti'is  are  an 
invention  of  the  P]gyj)tian  priests,  which  tliey  ])almed 
on  Herodotus^  and  Diodorus.^  Could  they  he  re- 
garded as  having  really  taken  place,  still  the  march 
back  from  Scythia  to  Kgypt  round  the  north  and  east 
of  the  Caspian  Sea  would  he  in  the  highest  degree 
improbable.  The  settlement  of  the  Parthians  in  Parthia 
l)y  the  returning  conqueror  is,  in  fact,  a  mere  duplicate 
of  the  tale  commonly  told  of  his  having  settled  the 
Colchians  in  Colchis,^  and  is  equally  worthless.  The 
earlier  authors,  moreover,  know  nothing  of  the  story, 
which  first  appears  in  the  second  century  after  our 
era,  and  as  time  goes  on,  becomes  more  circum- 
stantial.^ 

Even  the  special  connection  of  the  Parthians  with 
the  Dahae,  and  their  migration  from  the  shores  of  the 
Palus  Micotis,  may  l)e  doubted.  Strabo  admits  it  to 
be  uncertain  whether  there  were  any  Dah^e  at  all 
about  the  Meeotis;^  and,  if  there  were,  it  would  be 
open  to  (piestion  whether  they  wei-e  of  the  same  race 
with  the  Dahac  of  the  Caspian.*^  As  the  settlement  of 
the  Parthians  in  the  country  called  after  their  name 
dated  from  a  time  anterior  to  Darius  Hystaspis,  and 
the  Gi'eeks  certainly  did  not  set  on  foot  any  inquiries 
into  their  origin  till   at   least  two  centuries  later,"  it 


Sec  TTcTod.  ii.  103. 
'  Diod.  ic.  Si.  55,  ^4. 
'  Il.rod.  ii.  1(14;  Diod.  Sic.  1.  «•  c. 


Proper  (Ilerod.  i.  125),  in  Samaria 
(Rzr.  iv.  9),  in  Thrace  (Thuc.  ii.  • 
9f)),  in  tlic  tract  cast  of  the  Caspian 


John     of     Malahi     knows     the    (Strab.   ix.    8,    §  2),  &"      It   is  not 
niiml)er   of    the   colonists  (15,000),  !  probable  that  they   were  ail  really 
liiat  they  were  all  youths,  and  all  i  the  same  people, 
warriors  (p.  2(i;  cd.  Niebuhr).  '  The  Greeks  dTd  not  come  into 

'  Strat).  xi.  9,  §  3.  Ou  Tvdi-v  tV  I  contact  with  the  Parthians  (ill  n.c. 
Lj/inTioyFirnt  Aiini  eivn'i  rivnq  ruv  v7r?p'33l.  Probal)ly  tlii^y  did  not  care 
rfii  Mrt/ur(f'o5  il/d/^.'ii'.  much  to  intpiire  into  their  origin  t'U 

'  Dahae   or    Dai    are  found  in  a    after  i5.c.  255. 
great  variety  of  pltces,   as  in  Persia  ' 


CII. 


II.] 


THE    PAKTIIIAXS,    SCYTILS. 


11) 


would  be  unlikely  that  the  Parthians  could  give  tlieni 
a  true  account.  The  real  groundwork  of  the  stories 
told  seems  to  have  been  twofold.  First,  there  was  a 
strong  conviction  on  the  part  of  those  who  came  in 
contact  with  the  Parthians,  that  they  were  Scyths ; 
and  secondly,  it  was  believed  that  their  name  meant 
'exiles.'  ^  Hence  it  was  necessary  to  suppose  that 
they  had  migrated  into  their  country  from  some  portion 
of  the  tract  known  as  Scythia  to  the  Greeks,  and  it 
was  natural  to  invent  stories  as  to  the  particular  cir- 
cumstances of  the  miscration. 

The  residuum  of  truth,  or  at  any  rate  the  important 
conviction  of  the  ancient  Avriters,  which  remains  after 
their  stories  are  sifted,  is  the  Scythic  character  of  the 
Parthian  people.  On  this  point,  Strabo,  Justin,  and 
Arrian  are  agreed.  The  manners  of  the  Parthians 
had,  they  tell  us,  much  that  was  Scythic  in  tliem.^ 
Their  lans^uao-e  was  half-Scvthic,  half -Median.'^  Thev 
armed  themselves  in  -the  Scythic  fashion."*  They 
were,  in  fact,  Scyths  in  descent,  in  habits,  in  charactei". 

But  what  are  we  to  understand  by  this  ?  May  Ave 
assume  at  once  that  they  were  a  Turanian  joeople,  in 
race,  habits,  and  language  akin  to  the  various  tribes  of 
Turkomans  who  ai-e  at  present  dominant  over  the 
entire  res^ion  between  the  Oxus  and  the  Parthian 
mountain-tract,  and  within  that  tract  have  many 
settlements  ?  May  we  assume  that  they  stood  in  an 
attitude  of  natural  hostility  to  the  Arian  nati(ms 
by  which  they  were  surrounded,  and  that  their  revolt 


'  Justin,  xli.  1 ;  Eustath.  ad  Dio- 
nys.     Per.  1.  1047. 

'  Slrab.  xi.  9,  §  2.  T«  lOri  ra 
ixovTa  —o'/'.d  utv  T()  i3i'ifi3af)ov  nai  ro 
isKvOiKnv.  Compare  Plin.  II.  N.  vi. 
25. 


^  .Justin,  xli.  2.  '  Sermo  hi.s  inter 
Scylhicum  Medicutiique  medius  ct 
ex  utrisque  niixtus.' 

*  Ibid.  'Armorum  patrius  ac 
Scythicus  mos.' 


20  THE    SIXTH    JMONARCIIY,  [cil.    II. 

was  the  assertion  of  independence  by  a  down-trodden 
people  after  centuries  of  sul)jection  to  tlie  yoke  of  a 
stranger?  Did  Tukan,  in  their  persons,  rise  against 
Ikax  after  perhaps  a  thousand  years  of  oppression,  and 
renew  the  stru2:2:le  for  ])re(h)ininance  in  reo-ions  where 
the  war  had  been  waged  before,  and  where  it  still 
continues  to  be  waged  at  the  present  day  ? 

Such  conclusions  cannot  safely  be  drawn  from  the 
mere  fact  that  the  Scythic  character  of  the  Parthians 
is  asserted  in  the  sti'ongest  terms  l)y  the  ancient 
writers.  The  term  '  Scythic  '  is  net,  strictly  speaking, 
ethnical.  It  designates  a  life  rather  than  a  descent, 
habits  rather  than  blood.  It  is  applied  l)y  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  to  Indo-European  and  Turanian  races 
indifferently,^  provided  that  they  are  nomads,  dwelling 
in  tents  or  carts,  living  on  the  produce  of  their  flocks 
and  lierds,  uncivilised,  and,  perhaps  it  may  be  added, 
accustomed  to  pass  their  lives  on  horseback.  We 
cannot,  therefore,  assume  that  a  nation  is  Turanian, 
simply  because  it  is  pi'onounced  '  Scythic'  Still,  as  in 
fact  the  bulk  of  those  races  which  have  remained 
content  with  the  nomadic  condition,  and  ^vhich  from 
the  earliest  times  to  the  present  day  have  led  the  life 
above  described  in  the  broad  steppes  of  Europe  and 
Asia,  appear  to  have  been  of  the  Turanian  type,  a 
presumption  is  raised  in  favour  of  a  people  being 
Tu]-anian  by  decided  and  concordant  statements  that 
it  is  Scythic.  The  presumption  may  of  course  be 
removed  by  evidence  to  the  contrary  ;  but,  until  such 


'  Straho  calls  the  Massagcta)  the  Sarmatians  and  the  Germans 
Scyths  (xi.  8.  §  2).  Pliny  not  only  (ib.  iv.  81).  Accoidin-j;  to  Strabo, 
includes  under  the  nnnc  all  the  soinc  of  the  older  (ire«k  gcogra- 
trihcH  between  Armenia  u:hI  North-  i  p'lers  called  all  the  nations  of  the 
cm  India  ('/A  jV.  vi.  25),  but  regards  :  north  cither  Scythians  or  Celto- 
it  as  li:iving  originally  extended  to    Scythians  (xi.  (>,  ^  2). 


cir.  II.] 


PARTIIIAX    NAMES    NOT    AKIAK 


21 


evidence  is  pi-odnced  it  lias  weight,  and  constitutes  an 
arofiiment,  tlie  force  of  which  is  considei'able. 

In  the  present  instance,  the  presumption  raised  is 
met  by  no  argument  of  any  great  ^veight  ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  receives  important  confirmation  from 
several  different  quarters.  It  is  said,  indeed,  that  as 
all,  or  almost  all,  the  other  nations  of  these  parts  ^vel•e 
confessedly  Arians  (e.g.  the  Bactrians,  the  Sogdians,  the 
Chorasmians,  the  Margians,  the  Arians  of  Herat,  the 
Sagartians,  the  Sarangiaiis,  and  the  Hyrcanians),  it 
would  1)6  strange  if  the  Parthians  belonged  to  a  wholly 
different  ethnic  family.^  But,  in  the  first  place,  the 
existence  of  isolated  nationalities,  detached  fragments 
of  some  greater  ethnic  mass,  embodied  amid  alien 
material,  is  a  fact  familiar  to  ethnologists  ;  ^  and,  further, 
it  is  not  at  all  certain  that  there  were  not  otlier  'Juranian 
races  in  these  parts,  as,  for  instance,  the  Thamanseans. 
Again,  it  is  said  that  the  Parthians  show  their  Arian 
extraction  by  their  names  ;  but  this  argument  may«be 
turned  airainst  those  who  adduce  it.  It  is  true  that 
among  the  Parthian  names  a  considerable  number  are 
not  only  x\rian,but  distinctly  Persian — e.g.,  Mithridates, 
Tiridates,  Artabanus,  Orobazus,  Rhodaspes — but  the 
Inilk  of  the  names  have  an  entirely  different  character. 
There  is  nothing  Arian  in  such  appellations  as  Am  mi- 
napes,  Bacasis,  Pacorus,  Vonoues,  Sinnaces,  Abdus, 
Abdageses,  Gotarzes,  Vologeses,  Mnasciras,  Sanatroeces  ; 
nor  anything  markedly  Arian  in  Priapatius,'^  Ilimerus, 


'  See  the  article  on  Parthia  in 
Dr.  Smith's  Dictionary  of  Greek  and 
Ttoman   (icography. 

■  The  Etrn--cans  in  Italy,  the  Ga- 
hitians  in  Asia  Minor,  the  Basques 
in  Spain,  are  ca<es  in  point.  It  would 
bo  easy  to  adduce  others. 


'  Priapatius  has  indeed  been  ex- 
plained as  equivalent  to  the  Zendic 
Frij/tpaitix,  'lover  of  his  father' 
(Lassen,  InrJische  Allerthunidund*^ 
vol.  ii.  p.  2R5,  note  o).  But  the  ety- 
mology is  uncertain. 


22  THE    SIXTH    MONAKCHY.  [ciI.    II. 

Orodes,  Aprgetseiis,  Ornospades,  Parrliaces,  Vasaces, 
Monesis,  Exedares.  If  the  Parthians  were  Arians,  what 
account  is  to  be  given  of  these  words  ?  That  they  em- 
ployed a  certain  number  of  Persian  names  is  sufficiently 
explained  by  their  subjection  during  more  than  t\vo 
centuries  to  the  Persian  rule.  We  are  also  distinctly 
told  tliat  they  affected  Persian  habits,  and  desired  to 
be  looked  upon  as  Persians.-^  The  Arian  names  borne 
by  Parthians  no  more  show  them  to  be  Arians  in  race, 
than  the  Norman  names  adopted  so  widely  by  the 
Welsh  show  them  to  be  Northmen.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  non-Arian  names  in  the  former  case  are  like 
the  non-Norman  names  in  the  latter,  and  equally  indi- 
cate a  second  source  of  nomenclature,  in  which  should 
be  contained  the  key  to  the  true  ethnology  of  the 
people. 

The  non-Arian  character  of  tlie  Parthians  is  signi- 
fied, if  not  proved,  by  the  absence  of  theii'  name  fi-om 
the  Zendavesta.  The  Zendavesta  enumerates  among 
Arian  nations  the  Bactrians,  the  Sogdians,  the  Margians, 
the  Hyrcanians,  the  Arians  of  Herat,  and  the  Cho- 
rasmians,  or  all  the  important  nations  of  these  j)a/ts 
except  the  Parthians.  The  Parthian  counti'y  it  mentions 
under  the  name  of  Nisaya^  or  Nissea,  implying  appa- 
rently that  the  Parthians  were  not  yet  settled  in  it. 
Tlie  only  ready  way  of  reconciling  the  geogra2:)hy  of 
the  Zendavesta  with  that  of  later  ages  is  to  suppose 
the  Partliians  a  iKjn-Ai'ian  nation,  who  intruded  them- 
selves  among  the  early  Ai-ian  settlements,  coming  pro- 
bably from  the  nortli,  the  gi-eat  liome  of  the  Turanians. 

Some  positive  arguments  in  favour  of  the  Turanian 
origin    of  the    Parthians    may   be    based   upon    their 


'  Jiiliuii,  Or.  de  Conntant.  (jest.  ii.  ]      "  See  Ritter's  Erdkv/tih;  vol.  viii 
p.  6:i,  A.  I  p.  50. 


Cir.    II.]  TURAXIA]Sr    CAST    OF    THE    Ts'A.MES.  23 

names.  The  Parthians  affect,  in  tlieir  names,  the  ter- 
mination -ac  or  -ah^  as,  for  instance,  in  Arsac-es, 
Sinnac-es,  Parrhaces,  Vesaces,  Sanatroeces,  Phraataces, 
<fec. — a  termination  which  cliaracterises  the  primitive 
Bal)yk)nian,  the  Basque,  and  most  of  tlie  Turanian 
tongues.  'J  he  termination -^^.S'e>?,  found  in  such  names 
as  Volo-geses,  Abda-geses,  and  the  like,  may  be  com- 
pared with  the  -fjliiz  of  Yenghiz.  The  Turanian  I'oot 
annap^  '  God,'  is  perhaps  traceable  in  Amm-inap-es. 
If  the  Parthian  ^Chosroes'  represents  the  Persian 
'Kurush'  or  Cyrus,  the  corruption  which  the  word  has 
undero:oiie  is  such  as  to  Gno^i>:est  a  Tatar  articulation. 

Ihe  remains  of  the  Parthian  lans^uas^e,  which  we 
possess,  beyond  their  names,  are  too  scanty  and  too 
little  to  l)e  depended  on  to  afford  us  any  real  assistance 
in  settling  the  question  of  their  ethnic  character. 
Besides  the  words  surena^  '  commander-in-chief,'  and 
harta  or  herta,  '^'ity,'  'fort,'  there  is  scarcely  one  of 
which  we  can  be  assured  that  it  was  really,  understood 
by  the  Parthians  in  the  sense  assigned  to  it.^  Of  these 
two,  the  latter,  which  is  undoubtedly  Arian,  may  have 
been  adopted  from  the  Persians :~  the  former  is  uon- 
Arian,  l)ut  has  no  known  Turanian  congeners. 

If,  however,  the  consideration  of  the  Parthian  lan- 
guage does  not  help  us  to  determine  their  race,  a  con- 


'  Justin  pays  that  the  word  'Par- 1  mianus  tells  us  that  a  coniinander 
thi '  meant  '  exiles '  in  the  Scythic  of  the  cavalry  was  called  rita.rtr  by 
speech  (xli.  1),  but  this  derivatinn  '  the  Parthians ;  but  Hesychius  alters 
assumes  the  jiroper  original  forni  of  both  the  word  and  the  meaning, 
the    name   to  be   Panida   (Sanskrit    making   the   former  iSicm^^  and  tho 

latter  '  king.' 

-  The  Persian  form  seems  to  have 

been  gnnhi,  as  in  Parsagarda  (I'lin. 

//  N.  vi.  26),  which  became  con  upt- 

ed   into   Pasargadfie.     The  Parthian 


panleH,  =  'of  another  counliy '), 
whereas  the  earliest  and  piobably 
most  correct  form  \s  Piirthirn.  (Com- 
pare Greek  Uaiif)ui'/iTi  and  Jlniiflvaini.) 
Lassen  translates  the  word  '  Paithi ' 


l>y  'those  who  march  over  the  bor-    is.  like  thj  Armenian,    crrta,    as  in 
ders '  (1/1)1.  Alt.  1.  s.  c),   but  gives  j  Vologesocerta  (ib.  1.  s.  c.) 
explanation  of  his  etymology.    Am-  j 


24. 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[cii. 


11. 


sideration  of  their  manners  and  customs  strengthens 
much  the  presumption  that  they  were  Turanians.  Like 
the  Turkoman  and  Tatar  tiiljes  generally,  they  passed 
almost  their  whole  lives  on  horseback,  conversinir, 
transactiiig  lousiness,  l)uying  and  selling,  even  eating  on 
their  horses.^  T^^^y  practised  polygamy,  secluded  their 
women  from  the  sight  of  men,  punished  unfaithfulness 
with  extreme  severity,  delighted  in  hunting,  and  rarely 
ate  any  flesh  but  that  whicli  they  obtained  in  this  way. 
were  moderate  eaters^  but  great  drinkers,^  did  not 
speak  much,  but  yet  were  very  unquiet,  being  con- 
stantly engaged  in  stirring  up  trouble  either  at  home 
or  abroad.'*  A  small  portion  of  the  nation  alone  was 
free ;  the  remainder  were  the  slaves  of  the  privileged 
few.^  Nomadic  habits  continued  to  prevail  among  a 
portion  of  those  who  remained  in  their  primitive  seats, 
even  in  the  time  of  their  greatest  national  prosperity  ;  ^ 
and  a  coarse,  rude,  and  semi-l)arbarous  character  at- 
tached always  even  to  the  most  advanced  part  of  the 
nation,  to  the  king,  tke  court,  and  the  nobles  generally, 
a  character  ^vdiich,  despite  a  certain  varnish  of  civilisa- 
tion, was  constantly  showing  itself  in  their  dealings 
with  each  other  and  with  foreign  nations.  'Ihe 
Parthian  monarchs,'  as  Gibbon  justly  observes,'  '■  like 
the  INIogul  (Mongol)  sovereigns  of  Ilindostan,  delighted 
in  the  pastoral  life  of  their  Scythian  ancestors,  and  the 
imperial  camp. was  frequently  pitched  in  the  plain  of 


'  Justin,  xli.  3.  '  Eqiiis  omni  tem- 
pore vectaiitur:  illis  belia,  illis  con- 
viviii,  illis  public;!,  a':  privata  negotia 
ob(  unt.''  (oriipar^  Vainbery's  ac- 
count of  the  uinderfi  llshogs  {Trav- 
els ill  (Jeidrdl  Axid,  p.  o45  and  plate 
opposite). 

'^   Il)i(l.      '  In  cibuin  j)arci.' 

=  I'lin.  //.  N.  XIV.  22. 


*  Justin,  1.  R.  c.  '  Semper  aut  in 
exteniosaut  in  dotncsticos  motus  in- 
quieti ;  natura  taciti.' 

''  Ibid.  xli.  2.  Compare  the  ca.sc 
of  the  Mongols,  win  re  the  '  Golden 
Horde  '  alone  was  free. 

°  Plin.  //.  N.  vi.  25. 

'  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  i.  p.  34 J. 
(Suiith's  edit'on.) 


ClI.  II.]    PARTHIAN  MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS,  TURANIAN.    25 

Ctesiplion,  on  the  eastern  bank  of  tlie.Tigris.'  Niehulir 
seems  even  to  doubt  wlietiier  the  Partliians  dwelt  in 
cities  at  all.^  He  represents  them  as  maintaining  from 
first  to  hist  their  noma<lic  ha1)its,  and  regards  the  in- 
surrection by  which  their  empire  ^vas  brought  to  an 
end  as  a  risino;  of  the  inhabitants  of  towns— the 
Tadjiks^  of  those  times — against  the  Ilyats  or  wanderers, 
who  liad  oppressed  them  for  centuiies.  This  is,  no 
doubt,  an  over-statement ;  but  it  has  a  foundation  in 
fact,  since  wandering  habits  and  even  tent-life  were 
affected  by  the  Parthiaus  during  the  most  flourishing 
period  of  their  empire. 

On  the  whole,  the  Turanian  character  of  the 
Parthians,  though  not  absobitely  proved,  appears  to  be 
in  the  highest  degree  probable.  If  it  be  accepted,  we 
must  regard  them  as  in  race  closely  allied  to  the  vast 
hordes  which  from  a  remote  antiquity  have  roamed 
over  the  steppe  region  of  upper  Asia,  from  time  to 
time  bursting  upon  the  south,  and  harassing  or  subju- 
gating the  comparatively  unwarlike  inhalntants  of  the 
warmer  countries.  We  must  view  them  as  the  con- 
geners of  the  Huns,  Bulgarians,  and  Comans  of  the 
ancient  world ;  of  the  Kalmucks,  Ouigurs,  Usbegs, 
Eleuts,  etc,  of  the  present  day.  Perhaps  their  nearest 
representatives  will  be,  if  we  look  to  their  primitive 
condition  at  the  founding  of  their  empire,  the  modern 
Turkomans,  who  occupy  nearly  the  same  districts  ;  if 
we  regard  them  in  the  period  of  their  great  prosperity, 
the  Osmanli  Turks.  Like  the  Turks,  they  combined 
great  military  prowess  and  vigour  with  a  capacity  for 
organisation    and    government  not  very  usual  among 


'  Le,ctures  on  Roman  History,  vol.  I  lied  Iranian  population  of   Bokhara 
iii.  p.  27G  ;  E.  T.  and  Kokand,  sec  Vainbery's  2'm/;<?/«, 

'  On  the  mod -rn  Tadjiks,  the  set- 1  pp.  367,  381,  &c. 


26  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [cH.  II. 

Asiatics.  Like  tbem,  tliey  remained  at  heart  barba- 
rians, tliougli  they  put  on  an  external  appearance  of 
civilisation  and  refinement.  Like  them,  they  never  to 
any  extent  amalgamated  with  the  conquered  j'aces,  but 
continued  for  centuries  an  exclusive  dominant  race, 
encainpfid  in  the  countries  which  they  had  overrun. 

Tile  circumstances  under  which  the  Parthians  l)ecame 
sul)jects  of  the  Persian  empire  may  readily  be  con- 
jectured, but  cannot  l)e  laid  down  positively.  Ac- 
cording to  Diodorus,  who  probably  followed  Ctesias, 
they  passed  from  the  dominion  of  the  Assyrians  to  that 
of  the  Medes,  and  from  dej^endence  upon  the  Medes  to 
a  similiar  position  under  the  Persians.^  But  the  1  )a]ance 
of  evidence  is  against  these  views.  It  is,  on  the  whole, 
most  probable  that  neither  the  Assyrian  nor  the  Median 
empire  extended  so  far  eastward  as  the  country  of  the 
Parthians.^  The  Pai'thians  probably  maintained  their 
independence  from  the  time  of  their  settlement  in  the 
district  called  after  their  name  until  the  sudden  arrival 
in  their  country  of  the  great  Persian  conqueror,  Cyrus. 
This  2:>rince,  as  Herodotus  tells  us,  subdued  the  whole 
of  Western  Asia,  proceeding  from  nation  to  nation,  and 
subjugating  one  people  after  another.  The  order  of 
his  conquests  is  not  traceable  )  but  it  is  clear  that  after 
his  conquest  of  the  Lydiau  empire  (about  n.c.  554 ),  he 
proceeded  eastward,  with  the  special  object  of  subduing 
Bactria."^  To  reach  Bactria,  he  ^vould  have  to  ]:)ass 
through,  or  close  by,  Parthia.  Since,  as  Herodotus 
says,"*  '  he  conquered  the  Avhole  w^ay,  as  he  Avent,'  we 


'  Diod.  Sio.  ii.  2,  §;3  ;  34,  §  1  and  |      *  Herod,  i.  177.     Ta  iifv  vw  kcitu 
i  C.  Ttji    'Xn'iTji    "AfiKaynr    civdnrara   froief 


'•*  Sec   Anrirnt    Monarchies,  vol.  ii. 
pp.  2:54  and  428  ;  2nd  cd, 
'  Herod,  i.  15:3. 


dl  avu  nvTT/i  avToi  Kvpni  it  d  v 
e  Ov  o  i  K  a  rna  r  p  e  (ji  6  fi  f  V  o  i  kui 
ov  (S  ^  V    7T  a  p  I  e  i  i  . 


CII.    ir.]  PARTHIANS    CONQUERED    BY    CYRUS. 


27 


may  fairly  conclude  tliat  on  his  road  to  Bactria  he  sub- 
jugated the  Parthiaus.  It  was  thus,  almost  certainly, 
that  they  lost  their  independence  and  became  Persian 
subjects.  Competent  enough  to  maintain  themselves 
against  the  comparatively  small  tribes  in  their  near 
neiglibourhood,  the  Chorasmians,  Hyrcanians,  Arians 
of  Herat,  Bactrians,  and  iSagartiaus,  it  was  not  possible 
for  tliem  to  make  an  effectual  resistance  to  a  monarch 
who  brought  against  them  the  entire  force  of  a  mighty 
empire.  Cyrus  had,  it  is  probable,  little  difficulty  in 
obtaining  their  submission.  It  is  possil)le  that  they 
resisted ;  ])ut  perliaps  it  is  more  probable  that  their 
course  on  this  occasion  was  similar  to  that  which  they 
pursued  when  the  Macedonian  concpieror  swept  across 
these  same  regions.  Tlie  Parthians  at  that  period  sub- 
mitted without  striking  a  1j1ow.^  There  is  no  reason 
to  believe  that  they  caused  any  greater  trouble  to 
Cyrus. 

AVhen  the  Persian  empire  was  organised  by  Darius 
Hystaspis  into  satrapies,  Parthia  was  at  first  united  in 
the  same  government  with  Chorasmia,  Sogdiana,  and 
Aria.^  Subsequently,  however,  when  satrapies  were 
made  more  numerous,  it  was  detached  from  these 
extensive  coTmtries,  and  made  to  form  a  distinct  go- 
vernment, with  the  mere  addition  of  the  comparatively 
small  district  of  Ilyrcania.^  It  formed,  apparently, 
one  of  the  most  tractable  and  sul>missive  of  the 
Persian  provinces.  Except  on  the  single  occasion 
already  noticed,"*  ^vhen  it  took  part  in  a  revolt  that  ex- 
tended to  nearly  one-half  the  empire,^  it  gave  its  rulers 


Al 


Q. 


'  Arrian,     Krp. 
Cuit.  I  list.  AL\\.  2. 

•   Ilcrod.  iii.  93. 

'   Strab.  xi.  9,  §  1.      Swen/f^  /xeru 
T(jf  'Y(jKi.vuD  Kara  rd  UepaiKa. 


*  Su;ira,  p.  15. 

^  Bell  int.  Ins.  col.  ii.  par.  2.  Com- 
nare  Ancient  Monarchies,  vol.  iii.  pp. 
411-413;  2nded. 


28  THE    SIXTH    MONAECHY.  [cil.  II. 

no  trouble ;  no  second  attempt  was  made  to  shake  off 
the  alien  yoke,  which  may  indeed  have  galled,  but 
which  was  felt  to  be  inevitable.  In  the  final  struggle 
of  Persia  as^ainst  Alexander,  the  Parthians  were  faithful 
to  their  masters.  They  fought  on  the  Persian  side  at 
Arbela;^  and  though  they  submitted  to  Alexander 
somewhat  tamely  when  he  invaded  their  country,  yet, 
as  Darius  was  then  dead,  and  no  successor  had  de- 
clared himself,  they  cannot  be  taxed  with  desertion. 
Pro])ably  they  felt  little  interest  in  the  event  of  the 
struficixle.  Habit  and  circumstance  caused  them  to  send 
their  contingent  to  Arbela  at  the  call  of  the  Great  King ; 
but  when  the  Persian  cause  was  evidently  lost,  they 
felt  it  needless  to  make  further  sacrifices.  Having  no 
hope  of  establishing  their  independence,  they  thought 
it  unnecessary  to  prolong  the  contest.  They  might 
not  gain,  but  they  could  scarcely  lose,  by  a  change  of 
masters. 


'  Arrian,  iii.  8 ;  Q.  Cart.  iv.  12. 


CH.  in.]  PARTHIA    UlfDER   THE   GREEKS.  29 


CHAPTER  III. 

Condition  of  Western  Asia  under  the  earlier  Seleucidm.  Revolts  of  Badria 
and  Parthia.  Cotijlicting  accounts  of  the  establishment  of  the  Parthian 
Kingdom.     First  War  with  Syria. 

To  l^ivix;  yiaKfi%vuv  u-nsarriaav,  koX  kuV  eavrovr   tjp^av,  koI  €■?■}  fiiya  Svva/xeu'i 
^Auaav. — Airian,  Fr.  1. 

The  attempt  of  Alexander  the  Great  to  unite  tbe  wliole 
civilised  world  in  a  single  vast  empire  niigbt  j^erLaps 
have  beeu  a  success  if  the  mind  which,  conceived  the 
end,  and  which  had  to  a  considerable  extent  elaborated 
the  means,  had  beeu  spared  to  watch  over  its  own 
woi-k,  and  conduct  it  past  the  perilous  period  of  infancy 
and  adolescence.  But  the  premature  decease  of  the 
great  JMacedonian  in  the  thii'tythird  year  of  his  age, 
when  his  plans  of  fusion  and  amalgamation  were  only 
just  beginning  to  develop  themselves,  and  the  un- 
fortunate fact  that  among  his  '  Successors '  there  was 
not  one  who  inherited  either  his  gi-andenr  of  concep- 
tion or  his  powers  of  execution,  caused  his  scheme  at 
once  to  collapse  ;  and  the  effort  to  unite  and  consolidate 
led  only  to  division  and  disintegration.  In  lieu  of 
Europe  being  fused  with  Asia,  Asia  itself  was  split  up. 
For  nearly  a  thousand  years,  from  the  formation  of  the 
great  Assyrian  empire  to  the  death  of  Darius  Codo- 
mannus.  Western  Asia,  from  the  Mediterranean  to  Aff- 
ghanistan,  or  even  to  India,  had  been  united  under  one 
head,  had  acknowledged  one  sovereign.  Assyria,  ^ledia, 
Persia,  had  successively  held  the  position  of  dominant 
power ;  and  the  last  of  the  three  had  given  union,  and 


30  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  lU. 

consequently  peace,  to  a  wider  stretch  of  country  and 
a  vaster  diversity  of  peoples  tlian  either  of  her  2^i"ede- 
cessors.  Under  the  mild  yoke  of  the  Achsemenian 
princes  had  been  held  together  for  two  centuries,  not 
only  all  the  nations  of  Western  Asia,  from  the  Indian 
and  Thibetan  deserts  to  the  ^gean  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean, but  a  great  part  of  Africa  also,  that  is  to  say, 
Egypt,  north-eastern  Libya,  and  the  Greek  settlements 
of  Cyrene  and  Barca.  The  practical  effect  of  the 
conquests  of  Alexander  was  to  break  up  this  unity,  to 
introduce  in  the  place  of  a  single  consolidated  enquire, 
a  multitude  of  separate  and  contending  kingdoms.  The 
result  was  thus  the  direct  opposite  of  the  great  con- 
queror's design,  and  forms  a  remarkable  instance  of  the 
contradiction  which  so  often  subsists  between  tlie  pro- 
positions of  man  and  the  dispositions  of  an  overruling 
Providence. 

The  struggle  for  power  which  broke  out  almost  im- 
mediately after  his  death  among  the  successors  of 
Alexander  may  be  regarded  as  having  been  l)rouglit  to 
a  close  by  the  battle  of  Ipsus.  The  period  of  fermen- 
tation was  then  concluded,  and  something  like  a  settled 
condition  of  things  brought  about.  A  (piadripartite 
division  of  Alexander's  dominions  was  recognised,  Mace- 
donia, Egypt,  Asia  Minor,  and  Syria  (or  south-western 
Asia)  becoming  thenceforth  distinct  political  entities. 
Asia  Minor,  the  kingdom  of  Lysimachus,  Iiad  indeed 
less  of  unity  than  the  other  three  states.  It  was  already 
disintegrated,  tlie  kingdoms  of  Bithynia,  Pontus,  and 
Cappadocia,  subsisting  side  by  side  with  that  of  Lysi- 
machus, which  was  thus  limited  to  western  and  south- 
western Asia  Minor.  After  tlie  deatli  of  Lysimachus, 
furtlier  changes  occurred  ;  but  the  state  of  Peigainus, 
which  sprang  up  at  this  time,  may  be  regarded  as  the 


CH.   Ill]  CAKEEll    OF    SELEUCUS    NICATOi;.  31 

continuation  of  liysimaclius's  kingdom,  and  as  consti- 
tuting from  the  time  of  Eumenes  I.  (b.c.  263)  a  fourth 
power  in  the  various  political  movements  and  combina- 
tions of  the  Grceco-Oriental  world. 

Of  the  four  powers  thus  established,  the  most  im- 
portant, and  that  with  which  we  are  here  especially 
concerned,  was  the  kingdom  of  Syria  (as  it  was  called), 
or  that  ruled  for  247  years  by  the  Seleucidse.  Seleucus 
Nicator,  the  founder  of  this  kingdom,  was  one  of 
Alexander's  officers,  but  served  without  much  distinc- 
tion through  the  various  campaigns  by  which  the  con- 
quest of  the  East  was  effected.^  At  the  first  distribu- 
tion of  provinces  (b.c.  323)  among  Alexander's  generals 
after  his  death,  he  received  no  share  ;^  and  it  was  not 
until  B.C.  320,  when  upon  the  death  of  Ji^erdiccas  a 
fresh  distribution  was  made  at  Triparadisus,  that  his 
mei'its  were  recognised,  and  he  was  given  the  satrapy 
of  Babylon.^  In  this  position  he  acquired  a  character 
for  mildness  and  liberality,  and  made  himself  generally 
beloved,  both  by  his  soldiers  and  by  those  who  were 
under  his  government.'*  In  the  struggle  between  Anti- 
gonus  and  Eumenes  (e.g.  317-316),  he  embraced  the 
side  of  the  former,  and  did  him  some  good  service  ; 
but  this,  instead  of  evoking  gratitude,  appears  to  have 
only  roused  in  Antigonus  a  spirit  of  Jealous}'.  The 
ambitious  aspirant  after  universal  dominion,  seeing  in 
the  j^opular  satrap  a  possible,  and  far  fj-oni  a  contemj)- 
tible,  rival,  thought  it  politic  to  sweep  him  out  of  his 
way ;  and  the  career  of  Seleucus  would  have  been  cut 
short,  had  he  not  perceived  his  peril  in  time,  and  l)y  a 
precipitate  flight  secui-ed  his  safety.     Accompanied  by 


'  Seleucus  is  rarely  mentioned  by 
Arrian.  His  nuine  occurs  only  in  v. 
13,  16  ;  V  i.  4  and  20. 

"^  Sej  Thirhvall,   Ilint.   of  Greece, 


vol.  vii.  pp.   139,    140;  Grote,   Hist, 
of  Greece,  vol.  viii.  p.  517. 

^  Thirlwall.  vol.  vii.  p.  245. 

'   Ibid    p.  308. 


32  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [cH.  III. 

a  body  of  no  more  tban  fifty  horsemen,  be  took  the 
road  for  Egypt,  escaped  the  j^ursuit  of  a  detachment 
^  sent  to  overtake  him,  and  threw  himself  on  the  pi-otec- 
tion  of  Ptolemy. 

This  event,  nntoward  in  appearance,  proved  the 
turning-point  in  Seleucus's  f oj-tunes.  It  threw  him  into 
irreconcilable  hostility  with  Antigonus,  while  it  bi-ought 
him  forward  before  the  eyes  of  men  as  one  whom  Anti- 
gonus feared.  It  gave  him  an  opportunity  of  showing 
his  military  talents  in  the  West,  and  of  obtaining  favour 
with  Ptolemy,  and  with  all  those  by  whom  Antigonus 
was  dreaded.  When  the  great  struggle  came  between 
the  confederate  mouarchs  and  the  aspirant  after  uni- 
vei'sal  dominion,  it  placed  him  on  the  side  of  the  allies. 
Having  recovered  Babylon  (b.c.  312),  Seleucus  led  the 
flower  of  the  eastern  provinces  to  the  field  of  Ipsus 
(b.c.  301),  and  conti'ibuted  largely  to  the  victory,  thus 
winning  himself  a  position  among  the  foremost  poten- 
tates of  the  day.  By  the  terms  of  the  agreement  made 
after  Ij^sus,  Seleucus  was  recognised  as  mon^u'ch  of  all 
tlie  (jreek  conquests  in  Asia,  with  the  sole  exceptions 
of  Lower  Syria  and  Asia  Minor.^ 

The  monarchy  thus  established  extended  fi'om  the 
Holy  Land  and  the  Mediterranean  on  the  west,  to 
the  Indus  valley  and  the  Bolor  mountain-chain  upon 
the  east,  and  from  the  Caspian  and  Jaxartes  towards  the 
north,  to  the  Persian  Gulf  and  Indian  Ocean  towards 
the  south.  It  comprised  Up])er  Syria,  Mesopotamia, 
parts  of  Cap])adocia  and  Phrygia,  Armenia,"  Assyria, 


'  Thirhvall,  vol.vii.  p.  401  ;  Grote, 
vol.  viii.  p.  57(i. 

*  Bishop  'j'liirhvall  notes  that  Ar- 
menia, shortly  lioforo  the  hatlle  of 
Ipsus,  was  independent  under  Ar- 
(loales,  a  native  kinj;  (vol.  vii.  p. 
402,  and  coni})aro  Diod.  Sic.  x.\xi. 
19,  §  5),  and  su;^:^o  ts  tliat  alter  Ip- 


sus Seleucus  was  too  much  engaged 
with  other  aflairs  to  l)ring  Armenia 
under.  But  eitiier  Scleucu-;  or  one 
of  ills  early  successors  must  have 
reconquered  Armenia,  for  it  did  not 
permanently  establish  its  independ- 
ence till  u.c.  190.  (Strub  xi.  14, 
§5.J 


CII.  in.]  EXTENT    OF   HIS   EMPIRE.  33 

Media,  Babylonia,  Susiana,  Persia,  Carmania,  Sagartia, 
Hyrcania,  Parthia,  Bactria,  Sogdiana,  Aria,  Zarangia, 
Aracbosia,  Sacastana,  Gedrosia,  and  probably  some 
part  of  India.^  Its  entire  area  could  not  have  been 
nuicli  less  than  ]  ,200,000  square  miles.  Of  these,  some 
300,000  or  400,000  may  have  been  desert;  but  the 
remainder  was  generally  fertile,  and  coinpi-ised  within 
its  limits  some  of  the  very  most  productive  regions  in  the 
whole  world.  The  Mesopotamian  lowland,  the  Orontes 
valley,  the  tract  between  the  Caspian  and  the  moun- 
tains, the  regions  about  Merv  and  Balkh,  were  among 
the  richest  in  Asia,  and  protluced  grain  and  fruits  in 
incredible  abundance.  The  rich  pastures  of  Media 
and  Armenia  furnished  excellent  horses.  Bactria  gave 
an  inexhaustible  supply  of  camels.  Elephants  in  large 
numbers  were  readily  procurable  from  India.^  Gold, 
silver,  copper,  iron,  lead,  tin,  were  furnished  by  several 
of  the  provinces,  and  precious  stones  of  various  kinds 
abounded.^  Moreover,  for  above  ten  centuries,  the 
precious  metals  and  the  most  valuable  kinds  of  mer- 
chandise liad  flowed  from  every  quarter  into  the 
region ;  and  though  the  Macedonians  may  have  car- 
ried off,  or  wasted,  a  considerable  quantity  of  ]joth,yet 
the  accumulations  of  ages  withstood  the  drain,  and  the 
hoarded  w^ealth  which  had  come  down  from  Assyrian, 
Babylonian,  and  Median  times  was  to  be  found  in  the 
days  of  Seleucus  chiefly  within  the  limits  of  his  Empire. 
The  situati(Mi  which  nature  pointed  out  as  most 
suitable  for  the  capital  of  a  kingdom  having  the  exten- 

'  Its  limits  eastward  are  somewhat  i  with    500  of  these  animals    (Strab. 

doubtful.    Sc'leuciis  appears  to  have  xv.  2,  §  !i).     They  were  largely  used 

ceded  a  portion,  at  any  rate,  of  his  both  by  him  and  by  his    successors 

Indian  possessions  to  Saiidracottus  in  their  wars. 

before  Ipsus.    (Thirlwall,  vol.  vii.  p.        '  See,  for  details  of  the  localities, 

^y-^)  Ancieitt  Monarchies,  vol.  iii.  pp.  158- 

'  Sandracott us  presented  Seleucus  102,  2nd  edit. 


34 


THE    SIXTH    JMONAKCHY. 


[CH.  III. 


sion  that  lias  been  here  indicated,  was  some  portion  of 
the  Mesopotamian  valley,  which  was  at  once  central 
and  fertile.  The  empire  of  Seleucus  might  have  been 
conveniently  ruled  from  the  site  of  the  ancient  JS'ineveh, 
or  from  either  of  the  two  still  existing  and  still  flourish- 
ing cities  of  Susa  and  Babylon.  The  impetus  given  to 
commerce  ])y  the  circumstances  of  the  time^  rendered 
a  site  near  the  sea  preferable  to  one  so  remote  as  that 
of  Nineveh,  and  the  same  consideration  made  a  position 
on  the  Tigris  or  Euphrates  more  advantageous  than 
one  upon  a  smaller  river.  So  for,  all  pointed  to 
Babylon  as  the  natural  and  best  metropolis;  and  it 
was  further  in  favour  of  that  place  that  its  merits  had 
struck  the  Great  Conqueror,  who  had  designed  to  make 
it  the  capital  of  his  own  still  vaster  Empire."  Accord- 
ingly Babylon  was  Seleucus's  lirst  choice  ;  and  there 
his  Court  was  held  for  some  years  previously  to  his 
march  against  Antigonus.  But  either  certain  disad- 
vantages were  found  to  attach  to  Babylon  as  a  residence, 
or  the  mere  love  of  variety  and  change  caused  him 
very  shortly  to  repent  of  his  selection,  and  to  transfer 
his  capital  to  another  site.  He  founded,  and  built  with 
great  rapidity,  the  city  of  Seleucia  upon  the  Tigris,^  at 
the  distance  of  about  forty  miles  fi'om  Babylon,  and 
had  transferred  thither  the  seat  of  government  even 
before  i?.c.  301.  Thus  far,  however,  no  fault  had  been 
committed.  The  second  capital  was  at  least  as  con- 
veniently placed  as  the  first,  and  would  have  served 
equally  well  as  a   centre  from   which  to  govern   the 


'  Tliirlwall,  Illd.  of  Greece,  vol.  vii. 
p.  120. 

^  This  is  rather  indicated  hy  the 
pains  which  he  took  to  improve  Bab- 
ylon CArr.  Krp.  Al.  vii.  17,  19.  21) 
than  distinctly  tleclarcd  Ity  any  im- 


portant authorities.  It  has  been  rec- 
ognisel  as  tolerably  certain  by  mod- 
ern writers.  (See  Dr.  SmitlTs  Diet. 
of  Bhtqvdph)!,  vol.  i.  p.  122,  &c.) 

=  Slrab.  xvi.  1,   §  5  ;    Plin.  H.  N. 
vi.  2(5. 


CII.    III.]  ILL    CHOSEN    POSITION    OF   THE    CAPITAL.  35 

Empire.  But  after  Ipsiis  a  further  change  was  made — 
a  change  that  was  iiijiulicious  in  the  extreme.  Either 
setting  undue  store  by  his  newly-acquired  western  pro- 
vinces, or  over-anxious  to  keep  close  watch  on  his 
powerful  neighbours  in  those  parts,  Lysimachus  and 
Ptolemy,  Seleucus  once  more  transferred  the  seat  of 
empire,  exchanging  this  time  the  valley  of  the  Tigris  for 
that  of  the  Orontes,  and  the  central  position  of  Lower 
Mesopotamia  for  almost  the  extreme  western  point  of 
his  vast  territories.  Antioch  arose  in  extraordinary 
beauty  and  magnificence  during  the  first  few  years  that 
succeeded  Ipsus,  and  Seleucus  in  a  short  time  made  it 
his  ordinary  residence.^  The  change  weakened  the 
ties  which  bound  the  Empire  together,  offended  the 
bulk  of  the  Asiatics,  who  saw  their  monarch  withdraw 
from  them  into  a  remote  region,  and  ^particularly 
loosened  the  grasp  of  the  government  on  those  more 
eastern  districts  which  ^veve  at  once  furthest  from  the 
new  metropolis  and  least  assimilated  to  the  Hellenic 
character.  Among  the  causes  which  led  to  the  dis- 
integration of  the  Seleucid  kingdom,  there  is  none 
that  deserves  so  well  to  be  considered  the  main  cause 
as  this.  It  was  calculated  at  once  to  produce  the  de- 
sire to  revolt,  and  to  render  the  reduction  of  revolted 
provinces  difficult,  if  not  impossible. 

The  evil  day,  however,  might  have  been  indefinitely 
delayed  had  the  Seleucid  princes  either  established  and 
maintained  through  their  Empire  a  vigorous  and  effective 
administration,  or  abstained  from  entangling  themselves 
in  wars  with  their  neighbours  in  theWest,  the  Ptolemies 
and  the  princes  of  Asia  IMinor. 

But  the  organisation  of  the  Empire  was  unsatisfac- 
tory.    Instead  of  pursuing  the  system  inaugurated  by 

'  Strah.  xvi.  2,  §  4. 


36  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    IIL 

Alexander  and  seeking  to  weld  the  heterogeneous 
elements  of  which  his  kingdom  was  composed  into  a 
homogeneous  whole,  instead  of  at  once  conciliating  and 
elevating  the  Asiatics  by  uniting  them  with  the  Mace- 
donians and  the  Greeks,  by  promoting  intermarriage 
and  social  intercourse  between  the  two  classes  of  his 
subjects,  educating  the  Asiatics  in  Greek  ideas  and 
Greek  schools,  opening  his  court  to  them,  promoting 
them  to  high  employments,  making  them  feel  that  they 
were  as  much  valued  and  as  well  cared  for  as  the  people 
of  the  conquering  race,^  the  first  Seleucus,  and  after 
him  his  successors,  fell  back  upon  the  old  simpler, 
ruder  system,  the  system  pursued  before  Alexander's 
time  by  the  Persians,  and  before  them  perhaps  by  the 
Medes — the  system  most  congenial  to  human  laziness 
and  human  pride — that  of  governing  a  nation  of  slaves 
by  means  of  a  class  of  victorious  aliens.  Seleucus  divided 
his  empire  into  satrajjies,  seventy-two  in  number.  He 
bestowed  the  ofiice  of  satrap  on  none  but  Macedonians 
and  Greeks.  The  standing  army,  by  w^hich  he  main- 
tained his  authority,  was  indeed  composed  in  the  main 
of  Asiatics,  disciplined  after  the  Greek  model ;  but  it 
was  officered  entirely  by  men  of  Greek  or  Macedonian 
parentage.  Nothing  Avas  done  to  keep  up  the  self- 
respect  of  Asiatics,  or  to  soften  the  unpleasantness 
that  must  always  attach  to  being  governed  by  foreigners. 
Even  the  suj^erintendence  over  the  satraps  seems  to 
have  been  insufficient.  According  to  some  writei's,  it 
was  a  gross  outrage  oftered  by  a  satrap  to  an  Asiatic 
subject  that  stirred  up  the  Parthians  to  their  revolt.^ 
The  story  may  not  be  true;  but  its  currency  shows  of 
what  conduct  towards  those  under  their  government 

'  On    the    views    ami     intentions  I  torji    of   Greece,    vol.    vii.    pp.    119- 
of     Alexander,    see     the     excellent    125). 
remarks  of  IJishop  Thirhvall  (Ilin-  \      ''  Sco  below,  p.  43. 


CH.  in.]  WARS  OF  SELEUCUS  AND  HIS  SUCCESSORS.  37 

the  satraps  of  the  Seleucid?e,  were  thought,  by  such  as 
lived  near  the  time,  to  have  been  capable. 

It  would,  i^erhaps,  have  been  difficult  for  the  Seleiicid 
princes,  even  had  they  desired  it,  to  pursue  a  policy  of 
absolute  abstention  in  the  wars  of  their  western  neio-h- 
bours.  So  long  as  they  were  resolute  to  maintain  their 
footing  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Euphi'ates,  in  Phrygia, 
Cappadocia,  and  Upper  Syria,  they  were  of  necessity 
mixed  up  with  the  quarrels  of  the  west.  Could  they 
have  been  content  to  withdraw  within  the  Euphrates, 
they  might  have  remained  for  the  most  j^art  clear  of 
such  entanglements  ;  but  even  then  there  would  have 
been  occasions  when  they  must  have  taken  the  field  in 
self-defence.  As  it  was,  however,  the  idea  of  absten- 
tion seems  never  to  have  occurred  to  them.  It  was  the 
fond  dream  of  each  '  Successor '  of  Alexander  that  in 
his  person  might,  perhaps,  be  one  day  united  all  the 
territories  of  the  great  Conqueror.  Seleucus  would 
have  felt  that  he  sacrificed  his  most  cherished  hopes  if 
he  had  allowed  the  west  to  go  its  own  way,  and  had 
contented  himself  with  consolidating  a  great  power  in 
the  regions  east  of  the  Euphrates. 

And  the  policy  of  the  f<ninder  of  the  house  was  fol- 
lowed by  his  successors.  The  three  Seleucid  sovereigns 
who  reigned  prior  to  the  Parthian  j'evolt  were,  one  and 
all,  engaged  in  fre(|uent,  if  not  continual,  wars  with 
the  monarchs  of  Egypt  and  Asia  Minor.  The  first 
Seleucus,  by  his  claim  to  the  sovereignty  of  Lower 
Syria,  established  a  ground  of  constant  contention  with 
the  Ptolemies  ;  ^  and  though  he  did  not  piosecute  the 
claim  to  the  extent  of  actual  hostility,  yet  in  the  reign 
of  his  son,  Antiochus  I.,  called  Soter,  the  smothered 
quarrel  broke  out.     Soter  fomented  the  discontent  of 

'  Diod.  Sic.  xxi.  5. 


38  THE    SIXTH    ]MONAECIIY.  [ciI.    HI, 

Cyrene  with  its  subjection  to  Egy})t/  and  made  at  least 
one  expedition  against  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  in  person 
(b.c.  264),  His  efforts  did  not  meet  with  much  sac- 
cess  ;  but  they  were  renewed  by  his  son,  Antiochus  II., 
surnamed  'the  God'  (g^os),  who  warred  with  Phila- 
delphus from  B.C.  260  to  B.C.  250,  contending  with  him 
chiefly  in  Asia  Minor,^  These  w^ars  were  complicated 
with  others.  The  first  Antiochus  aimed  at  adding-  the 
kingdom  of  Bithynia  to  his  dominions,  and  attacked 
successively  the  Bithynian  monarchs,  Zipoetas  ^  and 
Nicomedesl.  (b.c.  280-27i>).'*  This  aggression  brought 
him  into  collision  with  the  Gauls,  whom  Nicomedes 
called  to  his  aid,  and  with  whom  Antiochus  had  sev* eral 
struggles,  some  successful  and  some  disastrous.^  He 
also  attacked  Eumenes  of  Pergamus  (b.c.  263),  but  was 
defeated  in  a  pitched  battle  near  ^ardis.''  The  second 
Antiochus  was  not  engaged  in  so  great  a  multiplicity  of 
contests  ;  but  we  hear  of  his  taking  a  part  in  the  in- 
ternal affairs  of  Miletus,''' and  expelling  a  certain  Tima- 
chus,  who  had  made  himself  tyrant  of  that  city.  There 
is  also  some  grround  for  thinkino'  that  he  had  a  stand- 
ing  quarrel  with  the  king  of  Media  Atropatene.^  Alto- 
gether it  is  evident  that  from  B.C.  280  to  B.C.  250  the 
Seleucid  princes  were  incessantly  occupied  Avitli  wars  in 
the  west,  in  Asia  Minor  and  in  Syria  Proper,  wars 
which  so  constantly  engaged  them  that  they  had  neither 
time  nor  attention  to  spare  for  the  affairs  of  the  far 
east.     ISo  long   as  the  Bactrian   and  Parthian  satraps 


'  Pausiin.  i.  7,  §3. 

^  On  this  war,  see  Niebiihr,  Zt'c- 
tures  on  And.  Jllnto?'//,  vol.  iii.  p. 
286,  E.  T. 

^  Mcinnon,  De  rrhu.s  Ifrnirl.  xx.  3. 

*  ma  xvi. 

^  Antiochus  1.  obtained  iiis  name 
of    Sotcr  (Saviour)    from    a  victoiy 


over  the  Gauls  (Appian,  Syj'lacn,  p. 
130,  C.)  He  was  slain  in"  a  battle 
af^ainst  the  same  encmv  (Piiv larch, 
ap.  Plin.  //.  N.  viii.  43;  ..Elian,  IL 
An.  vi.  4-1). 

'■  Stral).  xiii.  4,  §2. 

'   Appian,  Syr.  p.  130,  D. 

"  Stral).  xi.'o,  §2. 


CH.    III.]  CHARACTER    OF    ANTIOCHUS    TIIEUS.  39 

paid  tlieir  triljutes,  and  supplied  the  requisite  quotas 
of  troops  for  service  in  tbe  western  wars,  the  Antiochi 
were  content.  The  satraps  were  left  to  manage  affairs 
at  their  own  discretion ;  and  it  is  not  sui-prising  that 
the  absence  of  a  controlling  hand  led  to  various  com- 
plications and  disorders. 

Moreovei',  the  personal  character  of  the  second 
Antiochus  must  be  taken  into  account.  The  vanity 
and  impiety,  which  could  accept  the  name  of 'Theus' 
for  a  service  that  fifty  other  Greeks  had  rendered  to 
oppressed  tow^ns  without  regarding  themselves  as 
having  done  anything  very  remarkable,^  would  alone 
indicate  a  weak  and  contemptible  morale^  and  might 
justify  us,  did  we  know  no  more,  in  regarding  the 
calamities  of  his  reign  as  the  fruit  of  his  own  unfitness 
to  rule  an  empii'e.  But  thei-e  is  sufificient  evidt^nce  that 
he  had  other,  and  worse,  vices.  He  was  noted,  even 
among  Asiatic  sovereigns,  for  luxury  and  debauchery; 
lie  neglected  all  state  affairs  in  the  pursuit  of  pleasure  ; 
his  wives  and  male  favourites  were  allowed  to  rule  his 
kino^dom  at  their  will ;  and  their  most  fiao^rant  crimes 
were  neither  restrained  nor  punished."^  Such  a  character 
could  have  inspired  neither  respect  nor  feai'.  The  satraps, 
to  whom  the  conduct  of  their  sovereign  could  not  but 
become  knowm,  would  be  partly  encouraged  to  follow 
the  bad  example,  partly  provoked  by  it  to  shake  them- 
selves free  of  so  hateful  and  yet  contemptible  a  master. 

It  was,  probably,  about  the  year  b.c.  256,  the  fifth 
of  the  second  Antiochus,  when  that  prince,  hard  pressed 
by  Philadelphus  in  the  west,  was  also,  perhaps,  engaged 
in  a  war  with  the  king  of  Atropatene  in  the  north,  that 

'  The  tiUe  was  conferred  by  the  I  "  See  Niebuhr's  Tjtetnres,  vol.  iii. 
Milesians  on  the  expulsion  o"f  Ti- 1  pp.  286,  287;  and  compare  Athen. 
marchus.  (See  above,,  note  °  on  p.  1  Deipnonoph.  ii.  p.  45  ;  x.  p.  438  ; 
38.)  I  Hieronym.  ad.  Dan.  xi.  &c. 


40 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[ciI.    III. 


the  standard  of  revolt  was  first  actually  raised  in  the 
eastern  jjrovinces,  and  a  Syrian  satrap  ventured  to  de- 
clare himself  an  independent  sovereign.  This  was 
Diodotus/  satrap  of  Bactria,  a  Greek,  as  his  name 
shows.  Suddenly  assuming  the  state  and  style  of  king 
he  issued  coins  stamped  with  his  own  name,  and  esta- 
blished himself  without  difficulty  as  sovereign  over  the 
large  and  flourishing  province  of  Bactria,^  or  the  tract 
of  fertile  land  about  the  upper  and  middle  Oxus. 
This  district  had  from  a  remote  antiquity  been  one 
with  special  pretensions.  The  country  ^vas  fertile,  and 
much  of  it  strong ;  the  people  were  hardy  and  valiant ;  ^ 
they  were  genei-ally  treated  with  exceptional  favour  by 
the  Persian  monarchs ;  ■*  and  they  seem  to  have  had 
traditions  ^vhich  assigned  them  a  pre-eminence  among 
the  Arian  tribes  at  some  indefinitely  distant  period.^ 


*  Justin  gives  the  name  as  Theo- 1  trian  coins  (Lassen,  IncUsche  Alther- 
dotus  (Justin,  xli.  4) ;  but  l^iodotu-i,  |  thumsk.  vol.  ii.   p.  284  ;  JVum.    Clir. 
which   is   the  form   used  by  Strabo  |  New  Series,  vol.  viii.  p.  278). 
(xi.  9,  §  8),  appears   upon  the  Bac-  I      ^  Justin's  '  thousand  Bactrian  cit- 


Coin  of  Diodotiis  I. 


ics'  (xli.  1)  are  no  doubt  an  exag- 
geration, but  they  indicate  a  truth — 
that  the  country  was  populous  and 
floui  ishiiig. 

'  The  Hactrians  were  amonp;  the 
nations  selected  by  Mardonius  to 
continue  the  Ktrn(i;>:;le  with  the 
Greeks  when  tlie  bulk  of  Xerxe.s' 
army  returned  home  (Ilerol.  viii. 
113).  They  fou<ilit  well  at  Arbela 
(Arr.  ?lq).  A/.,  ill.  13;  Q.  ('lu-t.  iv. 
15,  §   18),  and   offered   a  strenuous 


resistance  to  Alexander  (Arr.  iv. 
1-22). 

*  Bactria  w;is  made  generally  a 
sort  of  royal  appanage.  It  wiis  con- 
ferred by  Cyrus  on  his  second  son, 
Sinerdis  (Ctes.  Ere.  Perx.  §  8).  In 
the  reign  of  Xerxes  it  was  first  held 
by  his  brother,  Masistes  (Ilcrod.  ix. 
113),  and  afterwards  })y  sinother  bro- 
ther. Ilystaspes  (I)iod.  Sic.  xi.  G'J). 

'"  See  A)i('leiit  MoiuircJiies,  vol.  iii. 
p.  380,  2nd  edit. 


CII.    III.]        REVOLT    OF    BACTKIA    UXDER    DIODOTUS.  41 

We  may  presuine  that  tliey  would  gladly  support  the 
bold  enterprise  of  their  new  raouarch ;  they  would  feel 
their  vanity  flattered  by  the  establishment  of  an  inde- 
pendent Bactria,  even  though  it  were  under  Greek 
kings  ;  and  they  would  energetically  second  him  in  an 
enterprise  which  gratified  their  pride,  while  it  held  out 
to  them  hopes  of  a  career  of  conquest,  with  its  con- 
comitants of  plunder  and  glory.  The  settled  quiet 
which  they  had  enjoyed  under  the  Ach?emenide  and 
the  Seleucidae  was  probably  not  much  to  their  taste ; 
and  they  would  gladly  exchange  so  tame  and  dull  a 
life  for  the  j^leasures  of  independence  and  the  chances 
of  empire. 

It  would  seem  that  Antiochus,  sunk  in  luxury  at 
his  capital,  could  not  bring  himself  to  make  even 
an  eifort  to  check  the  spirit  of  rebellion,  and  recover 
his  revolted  subjects.  Bactria  was  allowed  to  establish 
itself  as  an  independent  monarchy,  without  having 
to  undergo  the  oixleal  of  a  bloody  struggle.  Antiochus 
neither  marched  against  Diodotus  in  person,  nor  sent 
a  general  to  contend  with  him.  The  authority  of 
Diodotus  was  confirmed  and  riveted  on  his  sul^jects 
by  an  undisturbed  reign  of  eighteen  years  before  a 
Syrian  army  even  showed  itself  in  his  neighbourhood. 

The  precedent  of  successful  revolt  thus  set  could 
not  well  l)e  barren  of  consequences.  If  one  province 
mio;ht  throw  off  the  voke  of  its  feudal  lord  with 
impunity,  why  might  not  others  ?  Accordingly,  within 
a  few  years  the  example  set  by  Bactria  was  folloAved 
in  the  neighbouring  country  of  Parthia,  but  with 
certain  very  important  difierences.  In  Bactria  the 
Greek  satrap  took  the  lead,  and  the  Bactrian  kingdom 
was,  at  any  rate  at  its  commencement,  as  thoroughly 
Greek  as  that  of  the  Seleucidjo.     But  in  Paithia  Greek 


42 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH. 


m. 


rule  was  from  tlie  first  cast  aside.  The  natives  re- 
l)elled  against  tlieir  masterSo  An  Asiatic  race  of  a 
rude  and  uncivilised  type,  coarse  and  savage,  but 
brave  and  freedom-loving,  rose  up  against  the  polished 
Vjut  effeminate  Greeks  who  held  them  in  subjection, 
and  claimed  and  established  their  independence.  The 
Parthian  kingdom  was  thoi'oughly  anti-Hellenic.^  It 
appealed  to  patriotic  feelings,  and  to  the  hate  uni- 
versally felt  towards  the  stranger.  It  set  itself  to 
undo  the  work  of  Alexander,  to  cast  out  the  Euro- 
peans, to  recover  to  the  Asiatics  the  possession  of 
Asia.  It  was  naturally  almost  as  hostile  to  Bactria 
as  to  Syria,  although  danger  from  a  common  enemy 
might  cause  it  sometimes  to  make  a  temporary  alliance 
with  that  kingdom.  It  had,  no  doubt,  the  general 
sympathy  of  the  populations  in  the  adjacent  countries, 
and  represented  to  them  the  cause  of  freedom  and 
autonomy. 

The  exact  circumstances  under  which  the  Parthian 
I'evolt  took  place  are  involved  in  much  obscurity. 
According  to  one  account  the  leader  of  the  revolt, 
Arsaces,  w^as  a  Bactrian,  to  whom  the  success  of 
Diodotus  was  disagreeal)le,  and  who  therefore  quitted 
the  newly-founded  kingdom,  and  betook  himself  to 
Parthia,  where  he  induced  the  natives  to  revolt  and 
to  accept  him  for  their  monarch.^  Another  account, 
which  is  attractive  from  the  minute  details  into  which 
it  enters,  is  the  following: — 'Arsaces  and  Tiridates 
were  brothers,    descendants  of  Phriapites,  the  son  of 


'  It  is  true  thnttlic  Parthians  u«;ed 
the  Greek  language  on  their  coins 
and  for  ins;cri[>tioii.s,  and  also  that 
some  of  th'-ir  kings  took  the  tiilc  of 
<J>(/f/X;;i'.  Still  I  hclieve  tlie  slate- 
nicnt  in    the    text   to    be   a    correct 


one.  It  applies  especially  to  the  early 
kinf^dom  —  from  n.c.  250  to  n.c. 
127. 

'^  Straho  (xi.  9,  §  8)  mentions  this 
view,  but  implies  his  own  dissent 
from  it. 


CII.   III.]*        KEVOLT  OF  PAKTIIIA  UNDER  ARSACES  I.  43 

Arsaces.  Plierecles,  who  had  been  made  satrap  of  their 
country  by  Antiochiis  Theus,  offered  a  gross  insult 
to  one  of  them,  whereupon,  as  they  could  not  bi'ook 
the  indignity,  they  took  five  men  into  counsel,  and 
with  their  aid  slew  the  insolent  one.  They  then 
induced  their  nation  to  revolt  from  the  Macedonians, 
and  set  up  a  government  of  their  own,  which  attained 
to  gi'eat  power.'  ^  A  third  version  says  that  the  Arsaces, 
whom  all  represent  as  the  first  king,  was  in  reality  a 
Scythian,  who  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  Parnian  Dahae, 
nomads  inhabiting  the  valley  of  the  Attrek  (Ochus), 
invaded  Parthia,  soon  after  the  estaljlishmeiit  of  Bac- 
trian  independence,  and  succeeded  in  making  himself 
master  of  it.^  AVith  this  account,  which  Strabo  seems 
to  prefer,  agrees  tolerably  well  that  of  Justin,  who 
says  ^  that  '  Arsaces,  having  been  long  accustomed  to 
live  by  robbery  and  rapine,  attacked  the  Parthians 
with  a  predatory  band,  killed  their  satrap,  Andragoras, 
and  seized  the  supreme  authority.'  As  there  was  in 
all  probaV)ility  a  close  ethnic  connection  between  the 
Dahne  and  the  Parthians,^  it  would  be  likely  enough 
that  the  latter  might  accept  for  king  a  chieftain  of 
the  former,  who  had  boldly  entered  their  country, 
challenged  the  Greek  satrap  to  an  encounter,  and  by 
defeating  and  killing  him,  freed  them^at  any  rate  for 
the  time — from  the  Greek  yoke.  An  oppressed  2">eople 
gladly  adopts  as  chief  the  head  of  an  allied  tribe,  if  he 
has  shown  skill  and  daring,  and  offers  to  protect  them 
from  their  oppressors. 


'  Arr.   Fr.   1.      Compare  Syncell.  ]  a'lTiav  i6uKe  ro?s  UapOvnloic  CKfla^ovat 
p.  284,  B,  and  Zosiiuus,  i.  18.      The    MoK£fIo»'aS,      els     iavTovi     ttjv   'apxfjt 
latter    says  :      'kpouK-qi    6    UapOvnin':,    'i^einnTriani. 
6i(l     ri/v     e'li     Tov    a6e7.(p6v    TripK^iirT/v  otrab.  XI.  9,  §  2. 

vjipiv       aynvaKTTjoai,       "KolEtiov       ~pnc  ■  Justin,  xli.  4. 

Tdv       'Xvrii'ixov      aarpdnr/v      cipofievoi,         *    See  above,  p.   17. 


u 


THE    SIXTH    ]MO]N^ARCIIY. 


'  [CII.    IIL 


The  revolt  of  Arsaces  lias  been  placed  by  some  as 
early  as  tlie  year  b.c.  256.^  The  Bactrian  revolt  is 
assigned  by  most  historians  to  that  year;^  and  the 
Parthian,  according  to  some;^  was  contemporary.  The 
best  authorities,  however,  give  a  short  interval  between 
the  two  insurrections;'*  and,  on  the  whole,  there  is 
perhaps  reason  to  regard  the  Parthian  independ- 
ence as  dating  from  about  b.c.  250.^  This  year  was 
the  eleventh  of  Antiochus  Theus,  and  fell  into  the 
time  when  he  w^as  still  eno-a^-ed  in  his  war  Avith 
Ptolemy  Philadelphus.  It  might  have  been  expected 
that  when  he  concluded  a  peace  with  the  Egy2:>tiari 
monarch  in  b.c.  249,  he  would  have  turned  his  arms 
at  once  towards  the  east,  and  have  attempted  at  any 
rate  the  recovery  of  his  lost  dominions.  But,  as 
already  stated,^  his  personal  character  was  weak,  and 


*  Frolich,  Annales  Regum  Syrise, 
p.  26;  Heeren,  Manual  of  Ati' lent 
History,  p.  299,  E.  T.  Mr^  P.  Smith 
{Ancient  IIisf.o7'>/,  vol.  ii.  p.  92), 
and  Mr.  Lindsay  {History  and 
Coinage  of  the  Partliians,  p.  4), 
tiiking  the  later  part  of  the  same 
Olympic  year,  make  the  Bactrian 
kingdom  to  have  been  founded  in 
B.C.  255. 

Major  Cunningham  has  recently 
argued  for  the  low  date  of  b.c.  24ii 
{Num.  Chron.  New  Series,  vol. 
vii.  pp.  2fil-2r)5)  ;  by  which  the 
Bactrian  revolt  is  made  to  fall  four 
years  later  than  the  Parthian.  But 
Strabo,  whom  he  confesses  to  be 
the  main  authority,  is  clear  that 
Bactria  set  the  example  of  revolt, 
which  Parthiu  followed  {G<,o(/rajih. 
xi.  9,  §  2  and  §  3). 

"  See  Wilson,  Ai'iaria,  Antigua, 
p.  210,  n.  1. 

'  Justin  says,  after  speaking  of 
the  Partliian  revolt:  *■  Emlein  tem- 
pore, etiam  Thcodotus,  mille  urbi- 
um  Bactrianaruin  praifectus,  deficit' 
(xli.  4). 


*  Strabo  says  :  U puTov  /nlv  rfiv 
BaKTpiav^/v  ciniaT'qnnv  o'l  neniorev- 
/ifvoi  .  .  .  E  TT  e  I.  t'  'kpariKiji  .  .  .  iwr/l. 
Ocv  tnt  Till)  Tlnp^Jvaiav  Kal  ^KpiiTT/aev 
nvTi/?.  This  authority  is  followed 
by  Droysen  {Gcschichte  des  Hcllen- 
isnuis,  vol.  ii.  §  331),  Lassen  {In- 
discJie  Altcrthumshunde,  vol.  ii.  p. 
284),  Mr,  P.  Smith  (Ancient  His- 
tory, vol.  ii.  pp.  91,  92),  and  most 
moderns. 

^  Justin  places  it  in  the  consul- 
ship of  L.  Manlius  Vulso  and  M. 
.\tiluis  Regulus,  which  was  b.c. 
256.  But  31.  Atilius  is  probably 
an  error  for  C.  Atilius,  who  was 
consul  wiih  L.  Manlius  Vulso  in 
B.C.  250.  Eusebius  distinctly  places 
the  revolt  of  the  Parlhians  in  this 
year  {Chron.  Can.  ii.  p.  352);  and 
Moses  of  Chorene  exactly  agrees, 
when  he  assii^ns  it  to  the  ehrcnth 
year  of  Antiochus  Theus.  {Hist. 
Armen.  ii.  1,  ad  fin.)  Compare 
Samuel  Aniens.  Sum.  Temj).  i.  7, 
§   13. 

°  See  above,  p.  39. 


CII.    III.]  ARSACES  I.  SUCCEEDED  BY  TIRIDATES.  45 

he  preferred  the  pleasures  of  repose  at  Antioch  to  the 
hardshij)S  of  a  campaign  in  the  Caspian  region.  So 
far  as  Ave  hear,  he  took  no  steps  to  re-establish  his 
authority ;  and  Arsaces,  like  Diodotns,  Avas  left  un- 
distii]'l)ed  to  consolidate  his  power  at  his  leisure. 

Arsaces  lived,  however,  but  a  short  time  after 
obtaining  the  crown.  His  authority  was  disputed 
within  the  limits  of  Parthia  itself;  and  he  had  to 
engage  in  hostilities  Avitli  a  portion  of  his  own  sub- 
jects.^ AVe  may  suspect  that  the  malcontents  Avere 
chiefly,  if  not  solely,  those  of  Greek  race,  Avho  may 
haA'e  been  tolera1>ly  numerous,  and  Avhose  strength 
Avould  lie  in  the  toAvns.  Hecatompylos,  the  chief  city 
of  Parthia,  Avas  among  the  colonies  founded  by 
Alexander ;  ^  and  its  inhabitants  Avould  naturally  be 
disinclined  to  ac([uiesce  in  the  rule  of  a  '  barl)arian.' 
Within  little  moi-e  than  tAA^o  years  of  his  coronation, 
Arsaces,  Avho  had  never  been  able  to  give  his  kingdom 
peace,  AA^as  killed  in  battle  by  a  S]3ear-thrust  in  the 
side;^  and  was  succeeded  (b.c.  247)  by  his  brother, 
having  left,  it  is  probable,  no  sons,  or  none  of  mature 
age.^ 

Tiridates,  the  successor  of  Arsaces,  took  upon  his 
accession  his  brothers  name,  and  is  known  in  history 
as  Arsaces  II.  The  practice  thus  begun  passed  into 
a  custom,^  each  Parthian  monarch  from  henceforth 
bearing  as  hing  the  name  of  Arsaces  in  addition  to  his 
own  real  appellation,  Avhatever  that  might  be.  In  the 
native  remains  the  assumed  name  almost   supersedes 


'  Strab.    xi.    9.    §    2.     Kar'   apxui 
fiev  ovv  anOevi/i  t/v  didTzo'Aefiuiv  rzpbi  Tovi 

Q.  Curt.  vi.  2, 


cellus  indicates  that  his  death  was 
violent  (vol.  i.  p.  540). 

*  See  .Justin,   xli.   5  ;    Strab.  xv. 
1,  §  3ti ;  Mos.   Chor.    ii.    1 ;    Amra. 


'  Suidas  ad  voc.     'ApaaKrjr.     Syn-  ;  Marc,  xxiii.  (>,  &c. 


46  THE    SIXTH    JVrOlSrARCIIY.  [CH.   III. 

the  other  ;  '  l)iit,  fortunately,  the  Greek  and  Eoniaii 
writers  who  treat  of  Parthian  affairs,  have  presei'ved 
the  distinctive  appeUations,  and  tliiis  saved  the  Parthian 
history  from  inextricable  confusion.  It  is  not  easy  to 
see  from  what  quarter  this  practice  was  adopted;^ 
perhaps  we  should  regard  it  as  one  j^reviously  existing 
among  the  Dalian  Scyths. 

If  the  Parthian  monarchy  owed  its  origin  to  Arsaces  I., 
it  owed  its  consolidation,  and  settled  establishment  to 
Arsaces  II,,  or  Tiridates.  This  prince,  who  had  the 
good  fortune  to  reign  for  above  thii'ty  years,^  and 
who  is  confused  by  many  writers  ^  with  the  actual 
founder  of  the  monarchy,  having  received  Parthia 
from  his  brother,  in  the  weak  and  unsettled  condition 
above  descril)ed,  left  it  a  united  and  powerful  king- 
dom, enlarged  in  its  boundaries,  strengthened  in  its 
defences,  in  alliance  with  its  nearest  and  most  for- 
midable neighbour,  and  triumphant  over  the  great 
power  of  Syi'ia,  which  had  hoped  to  bring  it  once 
more  into  subjection.  He  ascended  the  throne,  it  is 
probable,  early  in  B.C.  247,  and  had  scarcely  been 
monarch  a  couple  of  years  when  he  witnessed  one  of 
those  vast  but  transient  revolutions  to  which  Asia 
is  subject,  but  which  are  of  rare  occuri'ence  in  Europe. 
Ptolemy  Euei'getes,  the  son  of  Philadelphus,  having 
succeeded  to  his  father's  kingdom  in  the  same  year 


'  All  the  Parthian  coins  bear  the 
name  of  Arsaces.  A  low  compara- 
tively iiavc  the  special  name  of  the 
monarch  in  addition.  (See  Clinton, 
F.  li.  vol.  ii.  p.  252 ;  Lindsay, 
Midory  of  the  Parthian.%  pp.  134- 
16.3,     and    pl.ites    1-10.)       In    the 


"  The  practice  is  not  that  of  the 
Ptolemies,  who  bore  the  name  of 
Ptolemy  as  a  family  ap|)edation, 
and  took  some  further  designation 
for  distinction's  sake. 

'  Syncellus  (p.  284,  E)  says  37 
years;   but  the  synchionisms  in  the 


public     docmnents     also    it,   would    Parthian   history   scarcely  allow  so 
seem  that  the  special  designation  of  '  much. 

the  monarch  was  omitted  (l)io  Cass.         '   As  bjf  Justin,  Ammianus(l.s.c.), 
Ixvi.  11).  !  and  others. 


CII.  ni.]        TIRIDATES  THREATENED  BY  PTOLEMY  IIL  47 

with  Tiridates!,  niarclied  (in  B.C.  245)  a  liuge  expedi- 
tion into  Asia,  defeated  Seleucus  II.  (Callinicus)  in 
Syria,  took  Antioch,  and  then,  having  crossed  the 
Eupliiates,  proceeded  to  bring  the  greater  part  of 
Westein  Asia  under  his  sway.  Mesoj)otamia,  Assyria, 
Babylonia,  Susiana,  Persia,  Media,  submitted  to  him. 
He  went  in  person  as  far  as  Babylon,  and,  according 
to  his  own  account,^  was  acknowledged  as  master  by 
all  the  Eastern  provinces  to  the  very  borders  of  Bactria. 
The  Parthian  and  Bactrian  kingdoms  cannot  but  have 
trembled  for  their  newly  won  independence.  Here 
was  a  young  warrior  who,  in  a  single  campaign,  had 
marched  the  distance  of  a  thousand  miles,  from  the 
banks  of  the  Nile  to  those  of  the  Lower  Euphrates, 
without  so  much  as  receiving  a  check,  and  who  was 
threatening  to  lepeat  the  career  of  Alexander.  What 
resistance  could  the  little  Parthian  state  hope  to  offer 
to  such  an  enemy  ?  It  must  have  rejoiced  1  ii-idates 
to  hear  that  while  the  new  concpieror  was  gathering 
somewhat  too  hastily  the  fruits  of  victory,  collecting 
and  despatching  to  Egypt  the  most  valuable  works  of 
art  that  he  could  find  in  the  cities  which  he  had 
taken,  and  levying  heavy  contributions  on  the  sub- 
mitted countries,  a  revolt  had  broken  out  in  his  own 
land,  to  quell  which  he  was  compelled  to  retire 
suddenly  and  to  relinquish  the  greater  part  of  his 
acquisitions.  Thus  the  threatened  conquest  proved  a 
mere  inroad,  and  instead  of  a  jiower  of  greater  strength 
replacing  Syria  in  these  regions,  Syria  practically  re- 
tained her  hold  of  them,  but  with  enfeebled  grasp, 
her  strength  crippled,  her  prestige  lost,  and  her  honour 
tarnished.      Ptolemy  had,   it  is  probable,  not  retired 


'  See  the  inscription  of  Adule  (Bockh,  Corp.  Inscr.  Gr.  vol.  iii.  p.  509). 


48 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CII.    III. 


very  long,  when,  encouraged  by  what  lie  had  seen  of 
Syria's  weakness,  Tiridates  took  the  aggressiv^e,  and 
invading  the  neighbouring  district  of  Hyrcania,  suc- 
ceeded in  detaching  it  from  the  Syrian  state,  and 
adding  it  to  his  own  territory,^  This  was  throwing 
out  a  challenge  which  the  Syrian  monarch,  Callinicns, 
could  scai'cely  decline  to  meet,  unless  he  was  pre- 
pared to  lose,  one  by  one,  all  the  outlying  provinces 
of  his  empire. 

Accordinly  in  B.C.  237,  having  patched  np  a  peace 
with  his  brother,  Antiochus  Hierax,  the  Syrian  monarch 
made  an  expedition  against  Parthia.  Not  feeling, 
however,  altogether  confident  of  success  if  he  trusted 
wholly  to  his  own  unaided  efforts,  he  prudently 
entered  into  an  alliance  with  Diodotus  the  Bactrian 
two  agreed  "to  combine  their  forces 
Tiridates.  Hereupon  that  monarch,  im 
pi'essed  with  a  deep  sense  of  the  impending  danger, 
quitted  Parthia,  and  proceeding  northwards,  took  refuge 
with  the  Asj^asiacsB,'^  a  Scythian  tribe  which  dwelt  be- 
tween the  Oxus  and  the  Jaxartes.^  Tlie  Aspasiacae 
probably  lent  him  troops ;  at  any  rate,  he  did  not 
remain    long    in    retirement,    but,    hearing   that    the 


king,^    and    the 
ao-ainst 


'  Justin,  xli.  4.  (On  the  situation 
and  general  character  of  Hyrcania, 
sec  ch.  i.  p.  12.) 

=  Ibid. 

°  Strab.  xi.  8,  §  8.  'ApnaKT)^  tov 
KaX/.iviKov  (pevyiov  "ZDrvKov  eii  rovi 
'AaTTaaiuKag  ixtJiirjie.  Major  Cunnin<^- 
ham  pbices  the  flight  of  Tiridates  in 
B.r.  24G,  the  Jirnt  year  of  Callinicus 
(Num.  Chroii.  New  Series,  vol.  ix. 
]).  33) ;  but  there  seems  to  bo  no 
rc:ison  for  sui)posing  that  that  mon- 
arch tlireatened  tlie  eastern  ])rov- 
irices  until  Jt.e.  237,  his  tenth  year, 
nor   any  probability    that  Tiridates 


would  desert  his  kingdom  until  the 
Syrian  monarch  actually  made  his 
expedition. 

■*  On  the  character  and  geogra- 
phical position  of  the  Aspasi.ica?, 
see  Polyb.  x.  47.  This  writer 
assigns  (hem  the  whole  region  be- 
tween the  Oxus  and  the  Tanais  ; 
but  such  an  extension  of  their 
country  can  only  have  rested  on 
conjecture.  What  Polybius  Ineic 
was  that  they  dwelt  north  of  the 
Oxus,  which  they  were  in  tlie  habit 
of  cro.ssing  to  make  raids  into 
Hyrcania. 


CH.  III. J     TIRIDATES    DEFEATS    SELEUCUS    CALLINICUS.       49 

Bactrian  king,  whom  lie  especially  feared,  was  dead, 
he  contrived  to  detach  his  son  and  successor  from  the 
Syi'ian  alliance,  and  to  draw  liim  oVei'  to  his  own  side. 
Having  made  this  important  stroke,  he  met  Callinicus 
in  battle,  and  completely  defeated  his  array.^ 

This  victor}'  was  with  reason  regarded  Ly  the  Par- 
thians  as  a  sort  of  second  besrinnino'  of  their  inde- 
pendence.~  Hitherto  their  kingdom  had  existed  pre- 
cariously, and  as  it  were  by  sufferance.  It  could  not 
but  be  that  the  power  from  which  they  had  revolted 
would  one  day  seek  to  reclaim  its  lost  territory;  and, 
until  the  new  monarchy  had  measured  its  strength 
ao:ainst  that  of  its  former  mistress,  none  could  feel 
secure  that  it  would  be  able  to  maintain  its  existence. 
The  victory  gained  by  Tiridates  over  Callinicus  put  an 
end  to  these  doubts.      It  proved  to  the  world  at  large, 


'  Justin,  1.  s.  c.  :  '  Seel  cito.  morte 
Theodoti  metu  li  icratu'^,  cum  filio 
ejus — et  ipso  Theodoto— fwdus  ac 
pacem  fecit ;  nee  multo  post  cum  Sc- 
leuco  rege,  ad  defe'lores  jiersequen- 
dos  veniente,  congressus  victor  fuit.' 
Major  Cunningham  concludes,  on 
the  strength  of  a  fragment  of  Po- 
sidonius  (ap.  A  then.  Beipn.  iv.  p. 
lo3,  A),  that  Seleucus  was  not  only 
defeated  by  Tiridates,  but  made  pris- 
oner {Nam.  Chroii.  vol.  ix.  p.  34). 
But  this  would  make  Posidonius 
expressly  contradict  Justin,  who 
says  that  Seleucus  after  his  defeat 
was  recalled  to  his  own  kingdom  by 
fresh  troubles.  (See  note  '  on  the 
next  chapter.)  Others,  as  Vaillant, 
Clinton,  and  II.  II.  Wilson,  have 
concluded  fi'om  the  fragment  of  Po- 
sidonius that  Callinicus  must  have 
subsequ'-ntly  made  a  second  expedi- 
tion agiinst  the  Parlhians,  and  have 
then  b  en  made  p;isoner — an  expe- 
dition of  which  the  Posidonian  frag- 
ment is  the  only  trace.     But  it  has 


been  well  pointed  out  by  'Sir.  Bun- 
bury  that  that  fragment  belongs  lo 
the  history,  not  of  Seleucus  Callini- 
cus, but  of  Seleucus,  the  eldest  son 
of  Autiochus  Sidetes,  who  was  taken 
prisoner  by  Phraates  II.  in  B.C.  129 
{Diet,  of  Oreek  and  Itoman  Biogra- 
j>hj,  vol.  iii.  p.  774).  The  sirteenth 
book  of  Posidonius,  which  con- 
tained the  passage,  treated  of  this 
period,  and  the  p:issage  itself,  which 
speaks  of  a  Syrian  expedition  against 
Sledin,  is  inappropriate  to  the  time 
of  Tiridates.  The  objection  taken  to 
Mr.  Bunbury's  view,  that  Seleucus 
is  called  '  king  '  in  the  passage,  has 
no  force.  The  word  j3acucvi  is  con- 
stantly applied  to  princes  by  the 
Greek  writeis;  and,  moreover,  Seleu- 
cus, the  eldest  surviving  son  of  Cal- 
linicus (Euseb.  Chrcn.  Can.  i.  40, 
§  19),  would  have  been  de  -j'/r.^ 
'king'  on  his  father's  death. 

-  'Yelut  initium  libertatis.'    iJu.s. 
tin,  xli.  4,  ad  fin.) 


50  THE    SIXTH    MOXAECIIY.  [cil.    III. 

and  also  to  the  Partliiaiis  themselves,  that  they  had 
nothing  to  fear — that  they  were  strong  enough  to 
preserve  their  freedom.  Considering  the  enormous 
disproportion  between  the  military  strength  and  re-, 
sources  of  the  narrow  Parthian  State  r.nd  the  vast 
Syrian  Empire— considering  that  the  one  comprised 
about  fifty  thousand  and  the  other  above  a  million  of 
square  miles  ;^  that  the  one  had  inlierit- d  the  wealth 
of  ages  and  the  other  was  probably  as  poor  as  any 
province  in  Asia ;  tliat  the  one  ]ioss  ssed  the  Ma- 
cedonian arms,  training,  and  tactics,  while  the  other 
knew  only  the  I'ude  warfare  of  the  Steppes  :  the  result 
of  the  struggh^  cannot  but  be  regarded  as  surprising. 
Still  it  was  not  without  precedent,  and  it  iias  not  been 
^vithout  repetition.  It  adds  anotlier  to  the  many 
instances,  where  a  small  but  brave  people,  bent  on 
resisting  foreign  domination,  have,  \\  lien  standing  on 
their  defence  in  their  own  territory,  proved  more  than 
a  match  for  the  utmost  force  that  a  foe  of  overwhelm- 
ing strength  could  b;'ing  against  them.  It  reminds  us 
of  Marathon,  of  Bannockburn,  of  Morgai'ten.  We 
may  not  sympathise  wholly  with  the  victors,  foi-  Greek 
civilisation,  even  of  the  type  introduced  by  x\lexander 
into  Asia,  was  ill  replaced  by  Tatar  coai-seness  and 
barbarism;  but  we  cannot  refuse  our  admiration  to 
the  spectacle  of  a  handful  of  gallant  men  deferniinedly 
resisting  in  the  fastne-^ses  of  their  native  land  a  host 
of  aliens,  and  triumphing  over  their  would-be  op- 
pressors. 

The  Paithians  themselves,  deeply   impressed    with 
the  importance  of  the  contest,  prese)'  ^d  the  memory 


'Sec  above,   pp.  3   anl  .To      Tiie  I  rai-;e<l   the  Parthian   territory   from 
conquest   of     Ilyr^ania    may    hive    3:i,000  to  50,000  sijuaie  miles. 


cir. 


in.] 


COMMEMORATION"   OF   THE    VICTORY. 


51 


of  it  by  a  solemn  festival  on  tlie  anniversary  of  tbeir 
victory,  which  they  still    celebrated    in  the    time  of 


Trogus.* 


'  Justin,  no  doubt,  reports  the 
actual  words  of  Trogus  when  he 
says   (1.  s.  c),    '  quern  diem  Parthi 


exinde  solennem,  velut  initium  liber- 
tatis,  obsertaiiV 


52  THE   SIXTH   MONARCHY.  [CH.    IV. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Consolidation  of  the  Parthian  Kingdom.  Death  of  Tiridates  and  accession 
of  Arsaces  III.  Attack  on  Media.  War  of  Artahanus  (Arsaces  III.) 
with  Antiochus  the  Great.  Period  of  inaction.  Great  drvelopment  of 
Bactrian  power.  Heigns  of  Priapatius  {Arsaces  IV.)  and  Phraates  I. 
{Arsaces  V.) 

Kaf  (ipx^Q  aaOevfji  7)v  not  avroS  (8C.  ' \podK'r)i)  koI  ol  diade^auFvoi  EKt'cvov. 

Strab.  xi.  9,  §  3, 

Seleucus  miglit  perhaps  not  have  accepted  Lis  defeat 
as  final,  had  he  been  altogether  free  to  clioose  whether 
he  would  continue  the  Parthian  war  or  no.  The  re- 
sources of  his  Empire  were  so  vast,  his  command  of 
men  and  money  so  unbounded,  that  he  could  easily 
have  replaced  one  army  by  another,  and  so  have  pro- 
longed the  struggle.  But  renewed  troubles  had  broken 
out  in  the  western  portion  of  his  dominions,*  where 
his  brother,  Antiochus  Hierax,  was  still  in  arms  against 
his  authority.  Seleucus  felt  it  necessary  to  turn  his 
attention  to  this  quarter,  and  having  once  retired  from 
the  Parthian  contest,  he  never  afterwards  renewed  it.* 
Tiridates  was  left  umnolested,  to  act  as  he  thought  fit, 
and  either  to  attempt  further  conquests,  or  to  devote 
himself  to  securing  those  wdiich  he  had  effected.  He  chose 
the  latter  coui'se,  and  during  the  remainder  of  liis  reign 
— a  space  of  above  twenty  years — he  employed  himself 
wholly  in  strengthening  and  adorning  bis  small  king- 
dom.    Having  built  a  number  of  forts  in  various  strong 


'  .Justin,    xli.    5.       '  Rcvocato    Sc- 1      *  See  above,  p.  49,  note  '. 
Icuco  novis  in"tibus  in  Asiam.'  ' 


CH.    IV.]  DARA    BUILT   BY   TIIilDATES.  53 

positions,  and  placed  garrisons  in  them,  lie  carefully 
selected  a  site  for  a  new  city,  wliicli  he  probably  in- 
tended to  make  his  capital.  The  spot  chosen  combined 
the  advantages  of  being  at  once  deliglitful  and  easily 
defensil>le.  It  was  siiri'ouuded  with  precipitous  rocks, 
which  enclosed  a  plain  of  extraordinary  fertility.  Abun- 
dant wood  and  copious  streams  of  water  were  in  the 
neighbourhood.  The  soil  was  so  rich  that  it  scarcely 
required  cultivation,  and  the  woods  were  so  full  of 
game  as  to  afford  endless  amusement  to  hunters.^  To 
the  town  which  he  built  in  this  locality,  Tiridates 
gave  the  name  of  Dara,  a  word  which  the  Greeks  and 
Ivomans  elongated  into  Dareium.^  Unfortunately, 
modern  travellers  have  not  yet  succeeded  in  identifying 
the  site,  which  should,  however,  lie  towards  the  East,^ 
perhaps  in  the  vicinity  of  Meshed. 

We  may  presume  that  Tiridates,  when  he  built  this 
remarkable  city,  intended  to  make  it  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment. Hecatompylos,  as  a  Greek  town,  had  the  same 
disadvantasres,  which  were  considered  in  later  times  to 
render  Seleucia  unfit  for  the  residence  of  the  Parthian 
Couit  and  monarch.  Dara,  like  Ctesiphon,  Avas  to  be 
wholly  Parthian.      Its  strong  situation  would  render  it 


Mutin,  l.s.  c.  'Datolaxamento,  I  =  See  Plin.  H.  K  vi.  16.  The 
regiuini  Parthicum  format,  niilitem  j  double  resemblance  of  Apavortene 
legit,  ca^tt'lla  miinit,  civitates  fir-  (Zapavortene  in  one  MS.)  to  Zapa- 
mat ;  urbem  quoque  nomine  Darara  1  ortenon,  and  of  Dnreium  to  Dara, 
in  mnnte  Zapaortenon  condit;  cu-  .  is  enough  to  show  that  Pliny  and 
jus  ioci  ea  conditio  est,  ut  neque '  Justin  are  speaking  of  the  same 
munitius  qnidquain  esse,  neque !  locality.  The  description  of  Da- 
amoenius  possii.  Ila  enini  et  pr;v-  reium  .in  Pliny  as  'fcrtilitatis  in- 
ruptis  rupibus  undique  cingitur,  ut  clutte  locus'  is  a  confirmation,  if 
tutela  ioci  nullis  defensoribusegeat ;  '  one  were  needed, 
et  s<i]i  circumjaceritis  tanta  ub;rtas  '  This  emplacement  depends  es- 
est,  ut  propriis  opibus  expleatur.  pecially  on  the  identification  of 
Jam  fontium  ac  sylvarum  ea  copia  Justin's  Zapaortenon  with  the 
est.  ut  et  aquarum  abundant ia  irri-  Apavnrctica  of  Isidore  of  Charax 
getur,  et  venationura  voluplatibus  (JA?//.s.  Parth.  §  i;3\  which  lay 
exornelur.'  I  between  Parthyene  and  Margi.ina. 


0-i 


THE    SIXTH    MONAKCHY. 


[CII.    IV. 


easy  of  defence ;  its  vicinity  to  forests  al)ouncling  in 
game  would  give  it  special  charms  in  the  eyes  of  per- 
sons so  much  devoted,  as  the  Parthian  princes  were,  to 
the  chase.  But  the  intention  of  Tiridates,  if  we  have 
truly  divined  it,  failed  of  taking  permanent  effect.  He 
may  himself  have  fixed  his  abode  at  Dara,  but  his  suc- 
cessors did  not  inherit  his  predilections  ;  and  Hecatom- 
pylos  remained,  after  his  reign,  as  before  it,  the  head- 
quartei's  of  the  government,  and  the  recognised  metro- 
polis of  Parthia  Proper.^ 

After  passing  in  peace  and  prosperity  the  last  twenty 
years  of  his  I'eign,  Tiridates  died  in  a  good  old  age, 
leaving  his  ci'own  to  a  son,  whose  special  name  is  a 
little  uncertain,  but  who  is  called  by  most  moderns,^ 
Artabanus  I. 

Artabanus,  having  ascended  the  Parthian  throne 
about  B.C.  214,  and  being  anxious  to  distinguish  him- 
self, took  advantacre  of  the  war  ras-ino-  between  Antio- 
eh  US  IIL,  the  second  son  of  Seleucus  Callinicus,  and 
Achreus,  one  of  his  rebel  satraps,  to  advance  into  Media, 
and  to  add  to  his  dominions  the  entire  tract  between 
Hyrcania  and  the  Zagros  mountains.  Of  the  manner 
in  which  he  effected  his  conquests  we  have  no  account ; 
but  they  seem  to  liave  been  the  fruit  of  a  single  cam- 
paign, which  must  have  been  conducted  with  gi-eat 
vigour  and  military  skill.  The  Parthian  prince  appears 
to  have  occupied  Ecbatana,^  the  ancient  capital  of  the 


'  Sec  Polyb.  x.  28,  §  7:  Plin. 
//.  N.  vi.  15  ;  Strab.  xi.  9,  §  1-. 

"  See  Vaillant,  Hid.  AvHacid.  p. 
16;  Ileeren,  Manval,  p.  ;jOO,  E.  T.  ; 
Plate  in  Smith's  JJirt.  of  Ok.  and 
Rom.  Bioijnvphy.,  vol.  i.  p.  354; 
Lindsay,  Jlintory  and  Coinage  of 
the  I'lirf/iians^  p.  4  ;  &c.  Mr.  Ciin- 
t')')  fjiic<tions  the  existence  of  any 
«uch    king    (K  It.  vol.    ii.    p.    244, 


note*');  but  tbe  name  is  given  in 
the  Epitome  of  Trogus  Pompeius, 
and  the  actions  are  those  wrongly 
assigned  by  Mr.  Clinton  to  Tiri- 
dates. 

°  This  is  impVied.  in  the  account 
of  Polybius,  especially  in  the  fact 
recorded,  ihat  Antioclius,  in  re- 
occiipving  the  place,  plundered  it 
(Polyb.  X.  27,  §  13). 


err.    IV.]  KETGX    OF    AP.TAr.AXUS    I.  55 

Median  Empii-e,  and  to  liave  thence  threatened  the 
Mesopotaniian  countries.  Upon  receiving  intelligence 
of  his  invasion,  Antiochus  levied  a  vast  army/  and 
set  out  towards  the  East,  with  a  determination  to  sub- 
jugate all  the  revolted  provinces,  and  to  I'ecover  the 
Hmits  of  the  old  Empire  of  Nicator.  Passing  the 
Zagros  chain,  probably  by  way  of  Behistun  and  Ker- 
manshaw,^  he  easily  retook  Ecbatana,  which  was  an 
open  town,^  and  undefended  V)y  the  Parthians,  and 
proceeded  to  jirepare  for  a  further  advance  eastward. 
The  route  from  Ecbatana  to  the  Caspian  Gates  crosses, 
of  necessity,  unless  a  considerable  circuit  be  taken, 
"  some  large  tracts  of  barren  ground,  inlets  or  bays  of 
the  Great  Salt  Desert  of  Iran.  Artabanus  cherished  the 
hope  that  here  the  difficulties  of  the  way  would  effec- 
tually bar  his  enemy's  progress,  more  especially  as  his 
troops  were  so  numei'ous,  and  as  water  was  scanty 
throuofhout  the  whole  reojion.  The  streams  which  flow 
from  Zagros  towards  the  East  are  few  and  scanty ; 
they  mostly  fail  in  summer,  ^vhich,  even  in  Asia,  is  the 
campaigning  season  ;  and  those  who  cross  the  desert  at 
this  time  must  depend  on  the  wells  wherewith  the 
more  western  part  of  the  region  is  supplied  by  means 
of  Icaiiats  or  underground  conduits,'*  which  are  some- 
times carried  many  miles  from  the  foot  of  the  mountains. 
The  {)Osition  of  the  wells,  which  were  few  in  number, 
was  known  only  to  the  natives  ;  ^  and  Artabanus  hoi3ed 
that  the  Syrian  monarch  would  be  afraid  to  place  the 


Justin  (xli.  5)  makes  the  num-l      '  ' Kteixioto^.     Polyb.  x.  27.  §6. 
ber  of  his  troops  100,000  foot  and;      *  'YTovo//ot       Polyb.    x.    28,    §    2. 
20,000  horse,   which   is   not   at   all    On  the  extensive   use  of   Irtimts  in 
an  extravagant  estimate.  Persia,  see  above,  p.  7. 

■   Ttiis   is   the    easiest   pass    from         '  Polyb.  (1.  s.  c.)     ipeariai  ayvoao- 
!\["sopotamia    into    ^fedia,    and    the   fiEvai  t<h<^  aneipoci. 
one  which  is  open  the  earliest. 


56  THE    SIXTH    MO]VARCIIY.  [CJI.    IV. 

lives  of  Lis  soldiers  in  sucli  doubtful  keeping.  When, 
however,  be  found  that  Antiochus  was  not  to  be 
deterred  by  any  fears  of  this  kind,  but  was  bent  on 
crossing  the  desert,  he  had  recourse  to  the  barbaric 
expedients  of  filling  in,  or  poisoning,  the  wells  along 
the  line  of  route  which  the  Syrian  prince  was  likely  to 
follow,^  But  these  steps  seem  to  have  been  taken  too 
lato.  Antiochus,  advancing  suddenly,  caught  some  of 
the  Parthian  troops  at  their  barbarous  work,  and  dis- 
persed them  wuthoiit  difficulty,^  He  then  rapidly 
effected  the  transit,  and  pressing  forward,  was  soon  in 
the  enemy's  country,  where  he  occuoied  the  chief  city, 
Hecatompylos.^ 

Up  to  this  point  the  Parthian  monarch  had  declined 
an  en2:ao:enient.  No  information  has  come  down  to  us 
as  to  his  motives ;  but  they  may  be  readily  enough 
conjectured.  To  draw  an  enemy  far  away  from  his 
resources,  while  retiring  upon  one's  own ;  to  entangle  a 
numerous  host  among  narrow  passes  and  defiles;  to 
decline  battle  when  he  offers  it,  and  then  to  set  upon 
liim  unawares,  has  always  been  the  practice  of  weak 
mountain  races  when  attacked  by  a  more  numerous  foe. 
It  is  often  good  policy  in  such  a  case  even  to  yield  the 
capital  without  a  blow,  and  to  retreat  into  a  more  diffi- 
cult situation.  The  assailant  must  follow  whithersoever 
his  foe  retires,  or  quit  the  country,  leaving  him  unsub- 
dued. Antiochus,  aware  of  this  necessity,  and  rendered 
confident  of  success  by  the  evacuation  of  a  situation  so 
stroncr,  and  so  suitable  for  the  Parthian  tactics  as  Heca- 
torapylos,^  after  giving  his  army  a  short  rest  at  the 
captured  capital,  set  out  in  jDursuit  of  Artabanus,  who 


'  Polyb.  X.  28,  §  f).  Compare 
the  confliict  of  the  European  Scyths 
at  the  lime  of  the  invasion  of  their 
couulry  by  Darius  (Herod,  iv.  12U). 


-  Polyb.  X.  28,  §  G. 

"  Ibid.  §  7. 

'  Ibid.  X.  29,  §  1. 


cir.  IV.]      ins  WAR  WITH  antiochus  the  great.  57 

had  withdrawn  his  forces  towards  H3n'caiiia.  To  reach 
the  rich  Ilyi'caniau  valleys,  he  was  forced  to  cross  the 
main  chain  of  the  Elbiirz,  which  here  attains  an  eleva- 
vation  of  7000  or  8000  feet.  The  route  which  his  army- 
had  to  follow  was  the  channel  of  a  winter-torrent/ 
obstructed  with  stones  and  trunks  of  trees,  partly  by 
nature,  partly  by  the  efforts  of  the  inhabitants.  The 
long  and  difficult  ascent  was  disputed  Ijy  the  enemy 
the  whole  way,  and  something  like  a  pitched  battle 
was  fought  at  the  top  ;  but  Antiochus  persevered,  and, 
though  his  army  must  have  suffered  severely,  descended 
into  Hyrcania  and  captured  several  of  the  towns.^  Here 
our  main  authority,  Polybius,  suddenly  deserts  us,  and 
we  can  give  no  further  account  of  the  war  beyond  its 
general  result — Artabanus  and  the  Parthians  remained 
unsubdued  after  a  strus-srle  which  seems  to  have  lasted 
some  years ;  Artabanus  himself  displayed  great  valour  ;  ^ 
and  at  length  the  Syrian  monarch  thought  it  best  to  con- 
clude a  i>eace  with  him,  in  which  he  acknowledged  the 
Parthian  independence.  It  is  probable  that  he  exacted 
in  return  a  pledge  that  the  Parthian  monarch  should  lend 
him  his  assistance  in  the  expedition  which  he  was  bent 
on  conducting:  aiyainst  Bactria  ;  "*  but  there  is  no  actual 
proof  that  the  conditions  of  peace  contained  this  clause. 
We  are  left  in  doubt  whether  Artabanus  stood  aloof  in 
the  war  which   Antiochus  waged  with  Euthydemus  of 


'  Aid  jrtp'/Mprt?  xfrna/j/Sw.    (lb.    X.  j  nia     Polybius  calls  it  Mount  Labus. 
30,  §  2.)     The  situation  of  the  Par-  j      -  As  Tambraca  and  Syrinx, 
thian  and  Hyrcanian  townsis,  unf'T- I      ^  Justin,    xli.    5:    '  Adversus  An- 
tunatelj\  still  so  uncertain  that  it  is    tiochutn  Selcuci   filiuMi   laira  xivtuU 
impossible  ti  follow  the  march  of    pugnavir.' 

Antiocluis  upon  the  map.  Heca-  j  *  Tiie  expression  used  by  Justin 
tompylo-;  pro'. ably  lay  between  the  — 'ad  postreuium  in  .sorietultm  ejus 
Ja^lietaiand  the  Alatash ;  and  it  was  (so.  Antioclii)  ailsumptus  est' — 
this  latter  chain  which  Antiochus  seems  to  imply  something  more 
had  to  cross  in  order  to  enter  Hyrca-  i  thin  a  mere  peace. 


58  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY,  [CH.    IV. 

Bactria  immediately  after  the  close  of  lils  Partbian 
campaigns,  or  whether  he  lent  his  aid  to  the  attempt 
made  to  crush  his  neighbour.  Perhaps,  on  the  whole, 
it  is  most  probable  that,  nominally,  he  w^as  Antiochns' 
ally  in  the  w^ai',  but  that,  practically,  he  gave  him  little 
help,  having  no  wish  to  see  Syria  aggrandised. 

At  any  rate,  Avhether  Enthydemus  had  to  meet  the 
attack  of  Syria  only,  or  of  Syria  and  Parthia  in  combi- 
nation, the  result  was,  that  Bactria,  like  Parthia,  pi-oved 
stronfic  enouo-h  to  maintain  her  arround,  and  that  the 
Syrian  King,  after  a  while,  grew  tired  of  the  struggle, 
and  consented  to  terms  of  accommodation.-^  The 
Bactrian  monarchy,  like  the  Parthian,  came  out  of  the 
contest  unscathed — indeed  Ave  may  go  further,  and  say 
that  the  position  of  the  two  kingdoms  was  improved  by 
the  attacks  made  upon  them.  If  a  prince  possessing  the 
personal  qualities  that  distinguished  the  third  Antioch us, 
and  justified  that  title  of  '  (jireaf  which  he  derived  from 
his  Oriental  expedition^  -  if  such  a  prince,  enjoying 
profound  peace  at  home,  and  directing  the  Avhole  force 
of  his  Empire  against  them,  could  not  succeed  in  reduc- 
ing to  subjection  the  revolted  provinces  of  the  north- 


'  Polyb.  xi.  34,  §  9,  10.  The 
terms  were  the  following;: — Euthy- 
dcmus  supplied  Antiochus  witii 
provisions  tor  his  army,  and  surren- 
dered to  him  all  iiis  elephanis. 
Antiochus  allowed  Euthydeimis  to 
retain   his  j^overnment,    and    recog 


account  of  liis  representations  that 
a  strong  Bactria  was  needed  in 
order  to  keep  in  check  the  northern 
nomad^:,  who  were  (oni inn  illy 
threatening  an  irruption,  wiiich,  if 
it  once  took  place,  would  barliarise 
the    whole    country.     This    is    the 


nised  his  title  of  "king.'  A  mar- j  first  we  hear  of  an  aggressive  atti- 
ria<^e  was  ariangcd  Ixlween  Deme-  tude  being  assumed  by  the  Scytliic 
trius,  tiie  eldest  son  of  Kuthydenuis,    liordes  across  the  Jaxartcs 


and  a   daughter  of   Antiociuis,  pro 
bably    not     of     marriageable     age. 
Finally,    an    alliance,    offensive   and 
defensive      (""/'/^"vV'"),      was      con 


Appian,  S>/rii(c,  p.  80  a.  'AvtI- 
OYOS  .  .  .  iniia'Auv  f;  ^ijdinv  re  Kol 
Uai/JvTJvTjt',  Kal  Irtpa  i6vij  (Kpiard/jeva 
en  nfid  nvrnv,   Kul    iroX^h    dpaoai,   KCti 


eluded    betuecn    the  '  two    powers.  !/''>5  'A. 'r/o^vof    eTruar/Oiii.         Coui- 
These  favourable  terms  were  granted    I>'ii"«  Polylj-  xi.  84,  §  IG. 
to  the  liacirian  monarch,  eliiefly  oni 


CII.  IV.]  BIANK    PERIOD    IN    PAliTHIAlS'    HISTORY.  59 

east,  l>ut,  wliatever  military  advantacces  he  miu-lit  ^nm, 
found  conquest  impossible,  and  returned  home,  Laving 
acknowledged  as  independant  kings  those  whom  he 
went  out  to  chastise  as  rebellious  satraps,  it  was  evi- 
dent that  the  kingdoms  might  look  upon  themselves 
as  fiinily  established,  or,  at  least,  as  secure  from  the 
danger  of  re-absorption  into  the  Syrian  State.  The 
repulse  of  Callinicus  was  a  probable  indication  of  the 
fate  of  all  future  efforts  on  the  part  of  Syria  to  reduce 
Parthia:  the  conditions  of  peace  granted  by  Antiochus 
to  1/oth  countries,  after  a  series  of  military  successes, 
constituted  almost  a  pi'oof  that  the  yoke  of  Syria  would 
never  be  re-imposed  on  either  the  Parthian  or  the 
Bacti'ian  nation. 

With  the  departure  of  Antiochus  from  the  East, 
aV)out  B.C.  206,  we  enter  upon  a  period  when  Parthian 
history  is,  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  almost  a  blank 
Nothing  more  is  known  of  Arsaees  HI.  after  Antiochus 
I'etired ;  and  nothing  at  all  is  known  of  his  successor, 
Priapatius,  l)eyond  his  name  and  the  length  of  his 
reign,  ^vhicli  lasted  for  fifteen  years  ^  (from  a))out  e.g. 
19(3  to  181).  The  reigns  of  these  princes  coincidiE^  with 
those  of  Euthydemus  and  his  son,  Demetrius,  in  Bac- 
tria  ;  and  perhaps  the  most  probable  solution  of  the 
problem  of  Parthian  inactivity  at  this  time  is  to  be 
found  in  the  great  development  of  Bactrian  ])ower 
which  noAv  took  place,  and  the  influence  which  the  two 
neighbouring  kingdoms  naturally  exercised  upon  each 
other.  When  Parthia  was  stronc:  and  air^'ressive, 
Bactria  ^vas,  for  the  most  part,  quiet ;  and  when  Bac- 
tria  shows  signs  of  vigorous  and  active  life,  Parthia 
languishes  and  retires  into  the  shade. 

'  Justin,  xli.  5. 


CO  TlIK    SLXTII    MONAKOllY.  [cil.  IV. 

The  Bactrian  Kingdom,  founded  (as  we  have  seen*) 
a  little  before  the  Parthian,  sought  from  the  first  its 
ao-izrandisement  in  the  East  rather  than  in  the  AVest. 
The  Empire  of  Alexander  had  included  all  the  countries 
between  the  Caspian  Sea  and  the  Sutlej ;  and  these 
tracts,  which  constitute  the  modern  Khorasan,  Affghan- 
istnn,  and  Punjaub,  had  all  been  to  a  certain  extent 
Hellenised  by  means  of  Greek  settlements^  and  Greek 
government.  But  Alexander  was  no  sooner  dead  than 
a  tendency  displayed  itself  in  these  regions,  and  parti- 
culai'ly  in  the  more  eastern  ones,  towards  a  relapse  into 
barbarism,  or,  if  this  expression  be  too  strong,^  at  any 
rate  towards  a  rejection  of  Hellenism.  During  the 
earl 3^  wars  of  the  '■  Successors '  the  natives  of  the  Pun- 
jaub generally  seized  the  opportunity  to  revolt ;  the 
governors  placed  over  the  various  disticts  by  Alex- 
ander Avere  murdered ;  and  the  tribes  everywhere 
declared  themselves  free.  Among  the  leaders  of  the 
revolt  was  a  certain  Chandragupta  (or  Sandracottus), 
who  contrived  to  turn  the  circumstances  of  the  time  to 
his  own  special  advantage,  and  built  up  a  considerable 
kinirdom  in  the  far  East  out  of  the  fra^-ments  which  had 
detached  themselves  from  what  was  still  called  the 
Macedonian  Empire."*  When  Seleucus  IS'icator,  about 
J5.C.  805,  conducted  an  expedition  aci'oss  the  Indus,  he 


'  See  above,  p.  44. 

'  On  tlie  (iriek cities  founded  by 
Alexamler  in  Bachia,  seeStrabo,  xi. 
11,  §  4;  in  Sogdianu,  see  Anian, 
Ewp.  Al.  iv.  3,  ad.  fin. ;  in  the  Paro- 
paniisus,  ib.  iv.  22;  on  the  Indus 
and  its  tributaries,  Strab.  xv.  2,  §  9; 
Arrian,  v.  10;  vi.  1.'5,  21,  &c. 

'  That  tiie  llindoo   civihziition  of 


*  See  especially  the  account  of 
Justin,  XV.  4,  ^12-19.  '  Trnnsitum 
deindc  in  India  fecit,  qu;ic  post 
mortem  Alexandri,  veluti  ceivicibus 
jugo  servitutis  excusso,  ])i  affect os 
ejus  occiderat.  Auctor  libc-rtatis 
Saiidrocottus  fui-rat;  sed  tiUilum 
libertatis  post  victori;im  in  scrvi- 
tutcm   vcrtcrat ;   si(|uidom   ()ccuj)ato 


tbe    time   was  not   altogether    con-    regno     popuhun,    quom    ab    externa 
temptible    is    shown    by    Lassen    in  !  doniinatione  vindicaverat,  ipseseivi- 
the   second    book    of    his    y//cZ/.sr7/c    tio  premebat. ' 
Alter thumiikunde  (vol.  ii.  pp.  1-111).  ' 


CH.  IV.]       co^■TE^lPOl^Al^Y  state  of  bactkia.  61 

found  this  monarch  established  in  the  tract  between  the 
Indus  and  the  Ganges/  ruling  over  extensive  dominions 
and  at  the  head  of  a  vast  force.^  It  is  uncertain  whe- 
ther the  two  rivals  eng-asjed  in  hostilities  or  no.^  At 
any  rate,  a  peace  was  soon  made ;  and  Seleucus,  in 
return  fur  five  hundred  elephants,  ceded  to  Sandra- 
cottus  certain  lands  On  the  west  bank  of  the  Indus, 
which  had  hitherto  been  regarded  as  Macedonian."* 
'Iliese  prol)ably  consisted  of  the  low  grounds  between 
the  Indus  and  the  foot  of  the  mountains — the  districts 
of  Peshawui',  Bunnoo,  Murwut,  Shikarpoor,  and  Kurra- 
chee — which  are  now  in  British  occupation.  Thus 
Hellenism  in  these  parts  receded  more  and  more,  the 
Sanskritic  Indians  recovering  by  degrees  the  power  and 
independence  of  which  they  had  been  deprived  by 
Alexander. 

This  state  of  things  could  not  have  been  pleasing  to 
the  Greek  pi'inces  of  Bactria,  wdio  must  have  felt  that 
the  reaction  towards  l)arVjarism  in  these  parts  tended 
to  isolate  them,  and  that  there  was  a  danger  of  their 
being  crushed  1>etween  the  Parthians  on  the  one  hand 
and  the  perpetually  advancing  Indians  on  the  othei'. 
^^'hen  Antiochus  the  Great,  after  concluding  his  treaty 
with  Euthydemus,  marched  eastward,  the  Bactrian 
monarch  j^robably  indulged  in  hopes  that  the  Indians 


'  Palibothra,  on  the  Ganges,  is 
made  the  head  of  the  kingdom  of 
Sandracottu-;  by  Strabo,  wlio  fol- 
lows the  eye-witness,  Megasthenes 
(XV.  1,  §  36).  Plutarch  {Vit. 
Alex.    §    62)    extends    the    Praesian 


*  Strabo  (1.  s.  c.)  gives  as  the 
amount  of  his  force  400,000;  Plu- 
tarch (1.  s.  c),  000,000. 

'  Appian  mentions  hostilities 
(rciv  'Ivt'idv  nepnaaii  k— o?.  ifitiaer 
'j\.v<^poKuT<f)     ftaaiXec     rciv     Tze/il     avror 


Indians,  over  whom  he  ruled,  to  'IfrftJi^.  Syrinc.  p.  123,  B)  ;  but 
the  'Altars  of  Alexander,'  which  Strabo  (xv.  2,  §  9)  and  Justin  (xv. 
were  on  the  Hyphasis,  or  Sutlej  1,  §  21)  speak  merely  of  an  alli- 
(Diod.  Sic.   xvii.  05,  §  1).     Seleucus    ance. 

must  have  come  into  contact  with  *  Strabo,  1.  s.  c.  Plutarch  (1'/^ 
Sandracottus  in  the  Punjaub  re-  L4Ze.r.  §  62)  mentions  the  elephants, 
gion.  I  but  not  the  cession  of  territory. 


62  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    IV. 

would  receive  a  check,  and  tliat  the  Greek  frontier 
would  be  again  carried  to  the  Indus,  if  not  to  the  Sutlej. 
But,  if  so,  lie  was  disappointed.  Antiocbus,  instead  of 
making  war  upon  the  Indians,  contented  himself  with 
renewing  the  old  alliance  of  the  ISeleucidse  with  the 
Maurja  princes,^  and  obtaining  a  number  of  elephants 
from  Sophagesenus,  the  grandson  of  Sandracottus.^  It 
is  even  possible  that  he  went  further,  and  made  ces- 
sions of  territory  in  return  for  this  last  gift,^  which 
brought  the  Indian  frontier  still  nearer  than  before  to 
that  of  Bactria.  At  any  rate,  the  result  of  the  Indian 
expedition  of  Antiochus  seems  to  have  been  unsatisfac- 
tory to  Euthydemus,  who  shortly  afterwards  commenced 
what  are  called  'Indian  Wars''*  on  his  south-eastern 
frontier,  employing  in  them  chiefly  the  arms  of  his  son, 
Demetrius.  During  the  latter  years  of  Euthydemus  and 
the  earlier  ones  of  Demetrius,  the  Bactrian  rule  was 
rapidly  extended  over  the  greater  portion  of  the  modern 
Affgljanistan  ;  ^  nor  did  it  even  stop  there.  The  arms 
of  Demetrius  were  carried  across  the  Indus  into  the 
Punjaul)  region;  "  and  the  city  of  Euthymedeia  upon 
the  Ilydasj^es  remained  to  later  times  an  evidence  of 
the  extent  of  his  conquests.''^  From  B.C.  206  to  about 
B.C.  185  was  the  most  flourishing  period  of  the  Bactrian 


'  On  this  dynastic  appellation, 
sec  Lassen,  Indiache  Alterthuias- 
hunde,  vol.  ii.  p.  19(1. 

''  Polyb.  X.  34,  §  11.  Lassen  has 
shown  that  Sophajiesenus  (Sitblui- 
<j(inena)  was  j)robably  a  title  of 
Jalohi^  the  son  of  Asoka,  and  <i;rand- 
Kon  of  (Jhandfiifjuptit  (Saudracot- 
tus). 

'  So  Wilson  (Arittna  Anfiqua,  p. 
220)  ;  but  I  do  not  find  any  slate- 
iiient  of  the  fact  by  any  ancient 
writer. 

*  Strab.  xi.  11,  S  1. 


^  Demetrius  is  called  by  Justin 
'King  of  the  Indians'  (xli.  6,  §4). 
lie  is  reasonably  regardid  as  the 
founder  of  the  city  called  Deme- 
trias  in  Arachosia  (Tsid.  Char.  ^  19). 
I  lis  Indian  con(|uest.s  are  attested 
by  Stiabo  (1.  s.  c.) 

"  This  has  been  questioned  by 
Wilson  {Ar.  AnK  p.  230);  but 
Lassen  {hid.  AH.  vol.  ii.  p.  300) 
regards  the  evidence  as,  on  the 
whole,  conclusive. 

^   Ptol.   Geograph.  vii.  1  ;  p.  171- 


OIL  IV.]         AGGUES8IVE    ATTITUDE    OF    PHRAATES    I. 


63 


monarchy,  Aviiich  expanded  during  that  space  from  a 
small  kingdom  into  a  considerable  empire.^ 

The  [)ower  and  successes  of  the  Bactrian  princes  at 
this  time  account  sufficiently  for  tlie  fact  that  the  con- 
temj)orary  Parthian  monarchs  stood  upon  their  guaitl, 
and  undertook  no  great  expeditions.  Arsaces  III.,  who 
continued  on  the  throne  for  about  ten  or  twelve  years 
after  his  peace  with  Antioclius,  and  Priapatius,  or 
Arsaces  IV.,  his  son,  who  succeeded  him,  and  had  a 
reign  of  fifteen  years,  were  content,  as  already  observed,^ 
to  watch  over  their  own  State,  husbanding  its  resources, 
and  living  at  peace  with  all  their  neighbours.  It  was 
not  till  Phraates  T.  (Arsaces  V.),  tlie 
son  of  Priapatius,  had  mounted  the 
throne,  b.c.  Ibl,  that  this  policy 
was  departed  from,  and  Parthia, 
which  had  remained  tranquil  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  once  more 
aroused  herself,  and  assumed  an 
attitude  of  ao-oression. 

The  quarter  to  which  Phraates  I.  directed  his  arms 
was  the  country  of  the  Mai'dians,  a  poor  l)ut  warlike 
j^eople,^  who  appear  to  have  occupied  a  portion  of  the 
Ellnirz  range,  probably  that  immediately  south  of 
Mazanderan  and  Asterabad."*     The  reduction  of  these 


Coin  of  Pliraates  I. 


'  The  coins  of  Euthydemus  are 
found  over  a  wide  space,  and  show 
his  empire  to  have  included  the 
provinces  of  Sogdiana,  Bactria, 
Margiana,  Aria,  the  Paropamisus, 
Drangiuna,  and  Arachosia. 

'  See  above,  p.  59. 

^  Justin  says,  '  Phraates  Mardos, 
validam  gentcui,  hello  domiiit' 
(xli.   5),     Arrian   notes  that   at  the 


time  of  Alexander  they  were  '  poor' 
(^TTevTjTec),  but  '  brave  in  their  pen- 
ury '  (^fiuxifioi  em  rfi  Trevia.  Ei-p.  Al. 
iii.  24). 

*  The  position  of  the  Mardians 
has  been  much  disputed.  I  am  in- 
duced to  assign  them  tliis  locality 
at  this  time  from  a  consideration 
of  Arrian  (1.  s.  c.)  compared  with 
Strabo  (xi.  8,  §  1  and  §  8). 


64  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [cH.    V. 

fierce  mountaineers  is  likely  to  have  occupied  liim  for 
some  years,  since  their  country  was  exceedingly  strong 
and  difficult.^  Though  the  Mardi  were  (nominally,  at 
any  rate)  subjects  of  the  Seleucida3,  we  do  not  hear  of 
any  assistance  being  rendered  them,  or,  indeed,  of  any 
remonstrance  being  made  against  the  unprovoked 
asfixression  of  the  Parthian  monarch.  The  rei2:n  of 
Phraates  I.  in  Parthia  coincides  with  that  of  Seleucus 
IV.  (Philopator)  in  Syria  ;  and  we  may  account  for  the 
inactivity  of  this  prince,  in  part  by  his  personal  cha- 
racter, which  was  weak  and  pacific,™  in  part  by  the 
exhaustion  of  Syria  at  the  time,  in  consequence  of  his 
father's  great  war  with  Rome  (b.c.  197-190),  and  of  the 
heavy  contribution  which  was  imposed  npon  him  at 
the  close  of  it.  Syria  may  scarcely  have  yet  recovered 
sufficient  strength  to  enter  upon  a  new  struggle,  espe- 
cially one  with  a  distant  and  powerful  enemy.  The 
material  interests  of  the  Empire  may  also  have  seemed 
to  be  l)ut  little  touched  by  the  war,  since  tlie  Mardi 
were  too  poor  to  furnish  much  trilnite ;  and  it  is  possi- 
ble, if  not  even  probable,  that  their  subjection  to  Syria 
had  long  been  rather  formal  than  leal.'^  Seleucus 
therefore  allowed  the  Mardians  to  be  reduced,  conceiv- 
ing, probaldy,  that  their  transfer  to  the  dominion  of  the 
Arsacid;e  neitlier  increased  the  Parthian  power  nor 
diminislied  his  own. 

But  the  nation  wliich  submits  to  be  robbed 'of  a  pro- 
vince, how'ever  unproductive  and  valueless,  must  look 


*  Arrian,  1.  s.  c.  ;  Q.  Curt.  Hist. 
Alex.  vi.  5.  The  latter  writer  says: 
'  Interiora  rcgionis  ejus  haud  sane 
adire  sine  niaijna  vexatione  [Alex- 
andril  oxercMtus  poterat.  Ju<;a 
iiioiitium,  praeallae  sylvae,  rupesque 
inviae  sepiunt.' 

■^  Niebuhr,    Lectures    on    Ancient 


Uisforr/,  vol.  iii.  p.  445,  E.  T. 
^  The  Maidians  were  a  robber 
tribe,  whose  allejiiance  to  Persia 
had  sat  very  li<fhtly  on  tlieiii.  They 
siibiiiittod  to  Alexander,  but  pro- 
bably reverted  soon  after  to  their 
old  condition. 


en.  IV.]  Ills    IXVASIOX    OF    MEDIA    RIIAGIAjNTA.  (35 

to  Laving  the  process  repeated  at  intervals,  until  it 
bestirs  itself  and  offers  resistance.  There  is  reason  to 
believe  that  Phraates  had  no  sooner  conquered  the 
Mardians  than  he  cast  his  eyes  on  an  adjacent  district, 
and  resolved  to  add  it  to  his  territories.  This  was  the 
tract  lying  immediately  to  the  west  of  the  Caspian 
Gates,  which  was  always  reckoned  to  Media,  forming, 
however,  a  distinct  district,  known  as  Media  Khagiana.^ 
It  was  a  region  of  much  natural  fertility,  being  watered 
by  numerous  streams  from  the  Elburz  range,  and  pos- 
sessing a  soil  of  remarkable  productiveness.^  Its  breadth 
was  not  gi'eat,  since  it  consisted  of  a  mei'e  strip  between 
the  mountains  and  the  Salt  Desert  which  occupies  the 
whole  centre  of  the  Iranic  tabledand  ;  but  it  extended 
in  length  at  least  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  from  the 
Caspian  Gates  to  the  vicinity  of  Kasvin.-  Its  ca}  ital 
city,  from  a  remote  antiquity,  was  Rhages,^  situated 
near  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  strip,  probably  at  the 
spot  now  called  Kaleh  J^^'ij^  about  twenty-three  miles 
from  the  '  Gates.'  On  this  region  it  is  clear  that 
Phraates  cast  a  covetous  eye.  How  much  of  it  he 
actually  occupied  is  doubtful ;  but  it  is  at  least  certain 
that  he  effected  a  lodgment  in  its  eastern  extremity,^ 
which  must  have  put  the  whole  region  in  jeopardy. 
Nature  has  set  a  remarkable  barrier  between  the  more 
eastern  and  the  mor©  western  portions  of  Occidental  Asia, 


'  Isid.  Char.    Mam.    Parth.    §   7.  ]  the  Books  of  Tobit  (i.  U  ;  vi.  9)  and 
Compare  Strab.  xi.    13,   §  7 ;  Diod.  !  Judith  (i,  5). 
Sic.  xix.  44,  §  5  ;  Ptol.  Geogr.  vi.  2.  ;      *  See  Ancient  Monarchies,  vol.   ii. 


See  the  descriptions  of  Fraser 
{Khoramn,  pp.  287,  288),  and  Kin- 
neir  (f'ei:si'ai  Empire,  p.  119). 

^  Rhiges  appears  in   the   Zenda- 
vcsta   uader    the   form    o£    liagha. 


p.  273  ;  2nd  ed. 

'  Isid.  Char.  Mans.  Parth.  §  7. 
'"EvTEv^iev  'Payiavr/  .M7?(5/a,  fi'  ^  .  .  . 
'Pdya  KCil  Xapa^,  uv  /jeyioTr/  tuv  saTa 
Tr/v  MTjdiav  tj  'Paya.     Ei?  di  ryv  Xapana 


It   is    mentioned    in    the    Cehistun    rrpcDroS  jSaatlevi  ^padrTji  tovc  Ma'pfW? 
inscription  (col.   ii.  par.   13),  and  in    uKiaen. 


66 


THE    S^XTH    MONARCHY. 


[ciI.  IV. 


about  midway  in  the  tract  which  lies  due  south  of  the 
Caspian  Sea.  The  Elburz  range  in  this  part  is  one  of 
so  tremendous  a  character,  and  northward  abut^  so 
closely  on  the  Caspian,  that  all  communication  l:>ct7,'een 
the  east  and  the  west  necessarily  passes  to  the  south  of 
it.  In  this  quarter  the  Great  Desert  offering  an  insu- 
perable obstacle  to  transit,  the  line  of  communication 
has  to  cling  to  the  flanks  of  the  mountain  chain,  the 
narrow  strip  between  the  mountains  and  the  desert — 
rarely  ten  miles  in  width — being  alone  traversable. 
But  about  long.  52°  20'  this  strip  itself  fails.  A  rocky 
spur  runs  due  south  from  the  Elburz  into  the  desert 
for  a  distance  of  some  twenty  or  thirty  miles,  breaking 
the  line  of  communication,  and  seeming  at  first  sight 
to  obstruct  it  completely .■'  This,  however,  is  not  the 
case  absolutely.  The  spur  itself  is  penetrable  by  two 
passes,  one  where  it  joins  the  Elburz,  which  is  the 
more  difficult  of  the  two,  and  another,  further  to  the 
south,  which  is  easier.^  The  latter,  now  known  as  the 
Glrduni  Sudurrah  pass,  constitutes  the  famous  '  Pyhis 
Caspia3.'  Through  this  pass  alone  can  armies  proceed 
from  Armenia,  Media,  and  Persia  east^V'ard,  or  fi'oni 
Turkestan,  Khorasan,  and  Aft'ghanistan  into  the  more 
western  parts  of  Asia.  The  position  is  therefore  one  of 
primaiy  importance.  It  was  to  guard  it  that  Rhages 
was  built  so  neai'  the  eastern  end  of  its  territory.  So 
long  as  it  remained  in  the  possession  of  Syria,  Parthian 
aggression  was  checked.  Khagiana,  the  rest  of  Media, 
and  the  other  provinces  were  safe,  (^i;  nearly  so.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  loss  of  it  to  Parthia  laid  the  eastern 
provinces  open  to  her,  and  was  at  once  almost  equiva- 


'  Fraser,  Khornmn,  p.  291. 
"^  Ancient  MonarchieH^  1.  s.  c.    The 
more    northern   pass   is  called   the 


Girduni  Siyaliilc.  It  is  perhaps  the 
'Pylaj  Caspia}'  of  Pliny  (//.  N.  vi. 
14J. 


CII.  IV.] 


DEATH    OF   PIIRAATES    I. 


67 


lent  to  the  loss  of  all  Eliagiaiia,  wliich  had  no  other 
natural  protection.  Now  we  find  that  Phraates  sur- 
mounted the  '  Gates,'  and  effected  a  lodgment  in  the 
plain  country  beyond  them.  He  removed  a  portion  of 
the  conquered  Mardians  from  their  mountain  homes  to 
the  city  of  Charax,  which  was  on  the  western  side  of  the 
Gates/  probably  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  ruins 
known  as  UewanlMfr  Iheir  location  in  this  strong 
])ost'^  was  a  menace  to  the  neighbouring  town  of  Rhages, 
which  can  scarcely  have  maintained  itself  long  against 
an  enemy  encamped  at  its  doors.  AVe  are  not  informed, 
however,  of  any  results  which  followed  on  the  occupa- 
tion of  Charax  during  the  life-time  of  Phraates.  His 
reign  lasted  only  seven  years — from  b.c.  181  to  b.c. 
174 — and  it  is  thus  probable  that  he  died  before  there 
was  time  for  his  second  imj^ortant  conquest  to  have  any 
further  consequences. 

Phraates  had  sufficient  warning  of  his  coming 
decease  to  make  preparations  with  respect  to  a  suc- 
cessor. Though  he  had  several  sons,  some  of  whom 
were  (we  must  suppose)  of  sufficient  age  to  have 
ascended  the  throne,^  he  left  his  crown  to  his  brother, 
jMithridates.     He   felt,    probaVdy,    that    the    State  re- 


'  See  above,  p.  65,  note  ^.  Mr.  Lind- 
say {Uixtory  of  the  Pdrtliidns^  p.  7) 
has  strangel)'  confounded  the  Me- 
dian Charax  with  Charax  Spasini 
at  the  nioulh  of  the  Tigris,  and  has 
hnagined  that  Phraates  I.  extended 
his  dominion  to  the  Persian  (iulf. 

'"  So  Droysen,  Gesc/ticJite  des 
IleUetiismiiii^  vol.  ii.  p.  TIG.  Isidore's 
description  {ioTLv  vnd  to  upos  d 
KaleiTat  Ka^TTrto?)  would  lead  one  fo 
place  it  somewhat  nearer  the 
'  Gates.' 

'  The  word  '  Charax '  properly 
means  '  palisade,'  and  applied  to  a 


town  indicates  that  it  was  guarded 
by  a  pahsaded  earthwork.  Un  the 
strength  of  sucli  palisaded  places 
under  the  Parthians,  see   Polyb.  x. 

31,  §  8.  Ta(pp»i  yup  j/oau  Tpirral, 
n'/.uToi  fxtv  oi'X  e^aTTov  ixovaut  rpui- 
Kovra  iT7]xoiv,  fidOo^  6i  TrevTSKaldeKa'  kni 

f?t7r/l«  ETTfKeiTo,  Kut  Te?.£VTalov  nporei- 
Xifyua  (^vvarnv. 

*  Unless  this  had  been  the  case, 
Justin  would  scarcely  have  dwelt 
so  much  upon  the  meritorious  cha- 
racter of  Phraates'  action  {Hint. 
Phil.  xli.  5,  ad  Jin.). 


68  THE    SIXTH    MONAIICHY.  [CH.  IV, 

quired  the  direction  of  a  firm  hand,  that  war  might  at 
any  time  break  out  with  either  Syria  or  Bactria ; 
while,  if  the  career  of  conquest  on  which  he  had  made 
Parthia  enter,  were  to  be  pursued,  he  could  trust  his 
brother  better  than  any  of  his  sons  to  conduct  aggres- 
sive expeditions  with  combined  vigour  and  prudence. 
We  shall  see,  as  the  history  proceeds,  how  Mithridates 
justified  his  choice.  Phraates  would  also  appear  to 
have  borne  his  brother  especial  aflfection,  since  he 
takes  the  name  of  '  Philadelphus '  (brother-loving) 
upon  his  coins.^  It  must  have  been  a  satisfaction  to 
him  that  he  was  able  by  his  last  act  at  once  to  consult 
for  the  good  of  his  country,  and  to  gratify  a  sentiment 
'on  which  it  is  evident  that  he  prided  himself. 


'  See  Lindsay's  Parthians,  p.  136.    The  subjoined  is  from  a  coin  of  this 
monarch. 


Phraates  I.    (Obverse.) 


cii.  v.] 


ACCESSION    OF    MlTHiilDATES    I. 


69 


CHAPTER  V. 

Beign  of  Mithridntes  I.  Position  of  Bactria  and  Syria  at  his  accession. 
His  first  tear  tcith  Bactria.  His  great  Expedition  against  the  Eastern 
Syrian  provinces,  and  its  results.  His  second  icar  with  Bactria,  termi- 
nating in  its  conquest.  Extent  of  his  Empire.  Attempt  of  Demetrius 
Nicator  to  recover  the  lost  Provinces,  fails.  Captivity  of  Demetrius. 
Death  of  Mithridates. 

'  Mithriduti,  iusignls  virtutis  viro,  reliquit  imperiiim  (Pliraliates).' 

Justin,  xli.  5. 

•The  reign  of  Mithridates  I.  is  the  most  important  in 
the  Parthian  history.  Receiving  from  his  brother 
Phraates  a  kingdom  of  but  nari-ow  dimensions,  con- 
fined (as  it  would  seem)  between  the  city  of  Charax 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  river  x\]-ius,  or  Heri-rud,  on 
the  other,  he  transformed  it,  within  the  space  of  thirty- 
seven  years  (which  was  the  time  that  his  reign  lasted), 
into  a  great  and  flourishing  Empire.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that,  but  for  him,  Parthia    might  have 


Coin  of  Mithridates  I.    (dative)        Coin  of  Mitliridates  I.    (Greek.) 

remained  a  mere  petty  State  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
Syrian  kingdom,  and  instead  of  becomimx  a  rival  to 
Rome,  might  have  sunk  shortly  into  obscuiity  and 
insiirnificance. 


70  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    Y. 

As  commonly  happens  in  tlie  grand  changes  which 
constitute  the  turning-points  of  histoiy,  the  way  for 
Mithridates'  vast  successes  was  prepared  by  a  long 
train  of  antecedent  circumstances.  To  show  how  the 
rise  of  the  Parthians  to  greatness  in  the  middle  of  the 
second  century  before  our  era  was  rendered  possible, 
we  must  turn  aside  once  more  from  our  proper  suVgect 
and  cast  a  glance  at  the  condition  of  the  two  kingdoms 
between  which  Parthia  stood,  at  the  time  when 
Mithridates  ascended  the  throne. 

The  Bactrian  monarchs,  in  their  ambitious  stru2:2:les 
to  possess  themselves  of  the  tracts  south  of  the  Paro- 
pamisus,^  and  extending  from  the  Heri-rud  to  the 
Sutlej  and  the  mouths  of  the  Indus,  overstrained  the 
strength  of  their  State,  and  V)y  shifting  the  centre  of 
its  power  injured  irretrievably  its  principle  of  cohesion. 
As  early  as  the  reign  of  Demetrius"  a  tendency  to 
disruption  showed  itself,  Eucratidas  having  lield  the 
supreme  power  for  many  years  in  Bactria  itself,  while 
Demetrius  exercised  authority  on  the  southern  side 
of  tlie  mountains.'^  It  is  true  that  at  the  death  of 
Demetrius  this  tendency  was  to  a  certain  extent 
checked,  since  Eucratidas  w^as  tlien  able  to  extend  his 
sway  over  almost  the  wliok^  of  the  Bacti'ian  territory."* 

'  See  above,  ch.  iv.  p.  62.  i  Nos.  5-7  ;  PI.  9,  No.s.    1-8.)     Major 

"  IJactri<a  appears  to  hnve  been  [  Cunninj^ham  believes  that  about 
from  the  first  less  central  seel  than  i  u.c.  230-225  there  were  /our  con- 
temporary princes  of  what  is  com- 
monly known  as  the  Bactrian  series. 
(Ibid.  vol.  ix.  ]).  128.)  Accordnig 
to  him,  the  union  of  the  Greek 
power  in  the  countries  east  of  Par- 
thia was  first  effected  by  Euthy.de- 
mus,  ab.  ij.c.  225. 

^  Wilson,  Ariana  Antlqun,  pp. 
229,  234,  &c.  Las'^en  agrees, 
though  a  little  doubtfully  (/«- 
tlixclic.  Altertliumnkuiulc,  vol.  ii.  pp. 
304,  305). 

*  According    to    Major    Cunning- 


Parthia.  Strabo's  ex|)ressinn  that 
'  those  %nho  w^re  intrusted  with 
its  government '  {pi  ■n-eTvinTevuruoi) 
caused  it  to  revolt,  is  remarkable, 
and  implies  a  plurality  of  princes. 
The  early  coins  aie  in  accorduice. 
Those  of  Diodotus  II.  show  us  two 
other  contemporary  [irinces,  Anti- 
machus  and  Agathocle.-;,  who  at 
one  time  lield  their  ])rinfipalitie; 
under  him,  and  at  another  time 
were  independent.  (See  JVniu. 
Chron.   New   Bcrie.-;,  vol.   viii.  PI.  8, 


CII.    v.]  CONDITION    OF    BACTRIA.  71 

I>ut  the  old  evil  recurred  shortly,  though  in  a  less 
pronounced  form.  Eucratidas,  without  l)eing  actually 
supplanted  in  the  north  by  a  rival,  found  that  he  could 
devote  to  that  portion  of  the  Empire  but  a  small  part 
of  his  attention.  The  southern  countries  and  the 
prospect  of  southern  and  eastern  conrpiests  engrossed 
him.  While  he  carried  on  successful  wars  with  the 
Arachotians,  the  Drangians,  and  the  Indians  of  the 
Punjaul)  region,  his  hold  on  the  more  northern 
countries  was  relaxed,  and  they  began  to  slip  from  his 
grasp.^  Incursions  of  the  nomad  Scyths  from  the 
Steppes  carried  fire  and  sword  over  portions  of  these 
provinces,  some  of  which  were  even,  it  is  j)i'obable, 
seized  and  occupied  by  the  invaders." 

Such  Avas,  it  would  seem,  the  condition  of  Bactria 
under  Eucratidas,  the  contempoi-ary  of  Mithridates. 
In  Syria,  Antiochus  Epiphanes  had  succeeded  his 
brother  Seleucus  IV.  (Philopator)  about  a  yenr  before 
Mithridates  ascended  the  Parthian  throne.'^  He  was 
a  prince  of  courage  and  energy  ;  Ijut  his  hands  were 
fully  occupied  with  wars  in  Egypt,  Palestine,  and 
Armenia,  and  the  distant  East  could  attract  but  a  small 
share  of  his  thought  or  attention.  The  claim  put 
forward  by  Egypt  to  the  possession  of  Coele-Syria  and 
Palestine,  promised  to  Ptolemy  V.  (it  was  affirmed)  as 
a  dowry  with  Cleopatra,  the  daughter  of  Autiochus 
the  Great,  led  to  hostilities  in  the  south-west  which 


hiin,  the  Indian  provinces  reuiaincd 
in  llio  posses-ion  of  tiie  family  of 
Doinotrius,  fallin;:^  to  his  son  (V), 
Lysias,  who  iiad  for  successors 
Antialcidas,  Amyntas,  and  Ilcr- 
ma-us.  {2iiim.  Citron.  New  Series, 
vol  ix.  p.  150.  Compare  vol.  viii. 
p.  274.) 

'  .Tiistin,  ::li.  G. 

=  Strab.  xi.  ^,  §  2.  MIAiara  f5? 
yru-iif^oi   yeyuvaai   rdv  vofn'i^ui'  ol    roOS 


'K/./ij/vic  ucfiAt'ijiEvni  rt/V  BaKTpiavi/v. 
Stralo  does  not  fix  tlie  da'e,  but  it 
can  sc  rc:ly  h?.vo  been  eitlier  earlier 
or  later  than  the  reign  of  Eucrati- 
das. (LTomparo  Wdson,  Ariaiia  An- 
tiqnn,  p.  23G  ) 

'  Ihe  accession  of  Epiphanes  is 
fixed  to  B.C.  175  bv  the  best  cliro- 
nologers.  (Sec  (Uiiiton.  /'".  //.  v.  1. 
iii.  p;i.  317-322.)  Mithridates  pro- 
bably became  king  in  b.c.  174. 


72 


THE    SIXTH    MONAKCIIY. 


[CH. 


lasted  continuously  for  four  years  (b.c.  171  to  b.c.  168), 
and  were  complicated  during  two  of  them  ^vitll  troubles 
in  Jud«a,  rashly  provoked  by  the  Syrian  monarch, 
who,  unaware  of  the  stubborn  temper  of  the  Jews, 
goaded  them  into  insurrection.-^  The  war  with  Egypt 
came  to  an  end  in  b.c.  168  ;  it  brought  Syria  no 
advantage,  since  Rome  interposed,  and  required  the 
restitution  of  all  conquests.  The  ^var  with  the  Jews 
had  no  such  rapid  termination.  Antiochus,  having  not 
only  plundered  and  desecrated  the  Temple,  but  having 
set  himself  to  eradicate  utterly  the  Jewish  religion,  and 
completely  Ilellenise  the  people,  was  met  with  the 
most  determined  resistance  on  the  part  of  a  moiety  of 
the  nation.  A  patriotic  party  rose  up  under  devoted 
leaders,^  who  asserted,  and  in  the  end  secured,  the 
independence  of  their  country.  Not  alone  during  the 
remaining  years  of  Epiplianes,  but  for  half  a  century 
after  his  death,  throughout  seven  reigns,  the  struggle 
continued  ;  Judaea  taking  advantage  of  every  trouble 
and  difficulty  in  Syria  to  detach  herself  more  and  more 
completely  from  her  oppressor ;  being  a  continual 
thorn  in  her  side,  a  constant  source  of  weakness,  pre 
venting  more  than  anything  else  the  recovery  of  her 
power.  The  triumph  which  Epi[)hanes  obtained  in 
the  distant  Armenia  (n.c.  166-5),  where  he  defeated 
and  captured  the  king,  Artaxias;^  was  a  poor  set-off 
asrainst  the  foe  which  he  had  created  to  himself  at  his 
doors  through  his  cruelty  and  intolerance. 

In  another  cpiarter,  too,  the  Syrian  power  received 
a  severe  shake  through  the  injudicious  violence  of 
Epiplianes.  The  Oriental  temples  had,  in  some  instances, 
escaped  the  rapacity  of  Alexander's  generals  and  '  Suc- 


'  Hoe  1  Maccab.  i.  21-64;  and 
coiiij)arc  Joseph.  A/if,.  Jud.  xii.  5,  0; 
Diod.  Sic.  xxxiv.  1,  §  3,  4. 


^  1  Mac.  ii.-vi. 

^  Appian,     Si/riac.    p.      131,    B. 
Liv.  xli.  25. 


en,  v.]  CONDITIO]^    OF    SYRIA  73 

cessoi-s  ;'  their  treasuries  remained  imviolated,  aud 
contained  lai'ge  hoards  of  the  j^recions  metals.  Epi- 
phanes,  having  exhausted  his  own  exchequer  by  his 
wars  and  his  lavish  gifts,  saw  in  these  unplundei'ed 
stores  a  means  of  replenishing  it,  and  made  a  journey 
into  his  south-eastern  provinces  for  the  purpose.  The 
natives  of  Elymais,  however,  resisted  his  attempt,  and 
proved  strong  enough  to  defeat  it ;  ^  the  baffled  luonarch 
retired  to  Tal)c^?,  where  he  shortly  afterward  fell  sick 
and  died.  In  the  popular  belief  his  death  was  a  judg- 
ment upon  him  for  his  attempted  sacrilege  ;^  and  in  the 
exultation  caused  by  the  event,  the  bands  which  joined 
these  provinces  to  the  Empire  must  undoubtedly  have 
been  loosened. 

Nor  did  the  removal  of  Epiphanes  (b.c.  164)  im- 
prove the  condition  of  affairs  in  Syria.  The  throne 
fell  to  his  son,  Antiochus  Eupator,  a  boy  of  nine, 
according  to  Appian,^  or,  according  to  another  autho- 
rity,* of  twelve  years  of  age.  The  regent,  Lysias, 
exercised  the  chief  po^ver,  and  was  soon  engaged  in  a 
war  with  the  Jews,^  whom  the  death  of  E[)iphanes 
had  encouraged  to  fresh  efforts.  The  authority  of 
Lysias  was  further  disputed  by  a  certain  Philip,  whom 
Epijjhanes,  shortly  before  his  death,  had  made  tutor 
to  the  young  king.^  The  claims  of  this  tutoi-  to  the 
regent's  office  being  supported  by  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  army,  a  civil  war  arose  between  him  and 
Lysias,  which  raged  for  the  gi'eater  part  of  Uxo  years 
(b.c.  16o-2),  terminating  in  the  defeat  and  death 
of  Pliilip.     But  Syrian  affairs  did  not  even  then  settle 

Pol3^b.  xxxi.  11  ;  1  Mac.  vi.  1-4.  |  the  cause  of  their  oppressor's  un- 


Appian  makes  him  succeed  in  plun- 
dering the  Temple  (Si/riac.  p.  181, 
C),  but  he  is  to  be  corrected  from 
Polyl:)ius. 

'^  Polyb.  1.  s.  c.      The  Jews  natu- 
rally regarded  their  own  wrongs  as 


timely  end.     (1  Mac.  vi.  13.) 

^  Si/rinr.  p.  117,  B. 

■•  Porphyr.    a|).     Eiiseb.     Chron. 
Can.  i  40,'  §  15. 

"  1  Mac.  vi.  17-62. 

"  Ibid    vi.  ir>,  55,  (S3. 


74  THE    SIXTH    IMONAKCHY.  [cH.    Y, 

down  into  tranquillity.  A  prince  of  the  Seleucid 
house,  Demetrius  by  name,  the  sou  of  Seleucus  IV., 
and  consequently  the  first  cousin  of  Eupator,  was  at 
this  time  detained  in  Home  as  a  hostage,  having  been 
sent  there  during  his  father's  lifetime,  as  a  security  for 
his  fidelity.  Demetrius,  with  some  reason,  regarded 
his  claim  to  the  Syrian  throne  as  better  than  that  of 
his  cousin,  the  son  of  the  younger  brother,  and  being 
in  the  full  vigour  of  eai'ly  youth,^  he  detei*mined  to 
assert  his  pretensions  in  Syria,  and  to  make  a  bold 
stroke  for  the  crown.  Having  failed  to  ol)tain  the 
Senate's  consent  to  his  quitting  Italy,  he  took  his 
departure  secretly,^  crossed  the  Mediterranean  in  a  Car- 
thaginian vessel,  and  landing  in  Asia,  succeeded  within 
a  few  months  in  estal^lishino-  himself  as  Syrian  monarch. 
From  this  review  it  sufficiently  appears  that  the 
condition  of  things,  l)oth  in  Syria  and  Bactria,  was 
favourable  to  any  aspirations  which  the  power  that  lay 
between  them  might  entertain  after  doininion  and 
selfaggrandizement.  The  Syrian  and  Bnctrian  kings, 
at  the  time  of  Mithridates'  accession,  were,  both  of 
them,  men  of  talent  and  energy ;  l)ut  the  Syrian 
monarch  was  soon  involved  in  difficulties  at  home, 
while  the  Bactrian  had  his  attention  attracted  to  ])ros- 
pects  of  advantage  in  a  remote  quarter.  Mithi-idates 
might,  perhaps,  have  attacked  the  territory  of  either 
with  an  equal  chance  of  victory ;  and  as  his  j)re- 
decessor  had  set  him  the  example  of  successful  \varfiire 
on  liis  western  frontier,  Ave  might  have  expected  his 
first  efforts  to  have  l)een  in  this  direction,  against  the 
dependencies   of  Syria.     But  circumstances  which  we 

'  lie  was  in  his  twenty-third  year,  lybius,  who  wiis  a  friend  of  Deme- 

(See  Polyb.  xxxi.  12,  <f  o.)  ttius  and  privy  to  Iiis  escape.     (See 

'"  The  circuinstances  of  i\\\<  secret  Polyl).  xxxi.  19-23.) 
dep^irtiire  arc  given  in  detail  by  Po- 


Clf.  v.]  BACTl'vIA    IXVADED    EV    ZMITIIKIDATES.  75 

cannot  exactly  trace  determined  his  choice  differently. 
AVliile  Eucratidas  wa^.  entangled  in  his  Indian  wars, 
Mitliridates  invaded  the  Bactri.-in  territory  where  it 
adjoined  Parthia,  and  added  to  his  Empire,  after  a 
short  struggle,  tvv  o  provinces,  called  respectively  Turiita 
and  that  of  Asj)ionus.^  It  is  conjectured  that  these  pro- 
vinces lay  towards  the  north  and  the  north-west,  the 
one  being  that  of  the  Turanians  proper,  and  the  other 
that  of  the  Aspasiacse,"  who  dwelt  between  the  Jaxartes 
and  the  Oxus.^  But  there  is  scarcely  sufficient  ground 
for  forming  even  a  conjecture  on  the  suljject,  since 
speculation  has  nothing  but  the  names  themselves  to 
rest  upon.^ 

Successful  in  this  quarter,  Mithridates,  a  few  years 
latei',  having  Avaited  until  the  Syrian  throne  was  oc- 
cupied by  the  lx)y  Eupator,  and  the  two  claimants 
of  the  regency,  Lysias  and  Philip,  were  contending  in 
arms  for  the  supreme  poAver,  made  suddenly  an  ex- 
pedition towards  the  west,  falling  upon  Media,  which, 
though  claimed  by  the  Syrian  kings  as  a  province  of 
their  Empire,  was  j^erhaps  at  this  time  almost,  if  not 
quite,  independent.^  The  Medes  offered  a  vig;orous 
resistance  to  his  attack ;  and,  in  the  Avar  which  fol- 
loAved,  each    side    had    in    turn   the  advantage  f  but 


'  Strab.  xi.  11,  §  2.  Mithridates  onus  is  not  rer)/  close  to  Aspasiacae. 
is  not  named  by  Straho,  but  niusi  Professo:-  II.  H.  AV'ilson  placed  As- 
have  been  the  conqueror,  as  the  c  )n- i  p  onus  at  Andk  luy.  and  Turiua  in 
temporary  of  Eucratidas.  I  the  Hazarch  .Mountains,  to  the  south 

"Lassen,  Lidische  Alterthums-  ot  Maymene.  (See  his  Map,  ^l/v'aHa 
kuii/le,  vol.  ii.  ]i.  294.  \Anfiqua,  opp.  p.  21 -I.) 

'  Supra,  p.  48.  note  4.  |      ^The  (]uasi-independcnceof  Med'a 

*  'I'iie  names  furnisli  but  an  un-  is  impl  ed  in  the  nccount  of  Justin, 
cert  lin  ground.  Las.sen  seems  to  who  represents  the  war  simply  as 
assume  the  identity  of  Turiua  with  one  between  the  Medes  and  the  Par- 
Tuvai),  which   is   no  doubt  possible,    tliians  (xli.  6). 

but  still  very  dou'itful,  the  word  '^  Justin,  1.  s.  c.  '  Cum  varius  utri- 
Turnii  not  otherwise  occurrinf;  till  u>;que  populi  casus  fuisset,  ad  pos- 
the  time   of  the  Sassanians.      A.-pi-  ;  tremum  victoria  [  enes  Parthos  fuit.' 


70  'J'lIE    SIXTH    MOISTAKCIIY.  [ciT.  V. 

eventually  tbe  Partliian  prince  proved  victorious,  and 
tbe  great  and  valuable  province  of  Media  Magna  was 
added  to  the  dominions  of  the  Arsacidse.  A  certain 
Bacasis  was  appointed  to  govern  it,  whether  as  satrap 
o-r  as  tributary  monarch  is  not  apparent ;  ^  while  the 
Parthian  king,  recalled  towards  home  by  a  revolt, 
proceeded  to  crush  rebellion  before  resuming  his 
career  of  conquest. 

The  revolt  which  now  occupied  for  a  time  the  atten- 
tion of  Mithridates  was  that  of  Hyrcania.^  The  Hyr- 
canians  were  Arians  in  race ;  they  were  brave  and 
high-spirited;^  and  under  the  Persian  monarchs  had 
enjoyed  some  exceptional  privileges,'*  which  placed 
them  above  the  great  mass  of  the  conquered  nations. 
It  was  natural  that  they  should  dislike  the  yoke  of  a 
Turanian  people ;  and  it  was  wise  of  them  to  make 
their  effort  to  obtain  their  freedom  before  Parthia 
grew  into  a  .power  against  which  revolt  would  be 
utterly  hopeless.  Hyrcania  might  now  expect  to  be 
joined  by  the  Medes,  and  even  the  Mardi,  who  were 
Arians  like  themselves,^  and  could  not  yet  have  forgotten 
the  pleasures  of  independence.  But  though  the  effort 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  ill-timed,  it  was  unsuccess- 
ful. No  aid  was  given  to  the  rebels,  so  far  as  we  hear, 
by  any  of  their  neighbours.  Mithridates'  prompt 
return  nipped  the  insurrection  in  the  bud  ;  Plyrcania 
at  once  submitted,  and  became  for  centuries  the 
obedient  vassal  of  her  powerful  neighbour. 

The  conquest  of  Media  had  brought  the  Parthians 


'  Justin's     words    ('  ^^ithI■idates  i      '■'  Justin,  1.  s.  c. 
Mediae    IJacasin    prasponit  ')    point  [      *  Q.    Curt.     Hid.     Alex.     vi.    4, 
ratiier  to  an  ap|iuintnient  as  satrap  ;    §  15. 

but  the  ordinary  system  of  tlie  Par-  [      *  Xen.   Cjirop.  iv.  2.  §  8. 
thians   vv;is  lo  {jovern  by  means  of  i      "^  See  the-  •,\\\i\wY^ a  Herodotus,  vol. 
tributary  monarchs.  i.  p.  345,  2t)d  edit. 


cii.  v.]         :media  and  susiAisrA  conquered.  77 

into  contact  witli  the  rich  country  of  Susiana,  or  Ely- 
ma'is ;  and  it  was  not  long  before  Mitliridates,  having 
crushed  the  Ilyrcanian  revolt,  again  advanced  west- 
Avard,  and  invaded  this  important  province.  Elymais 
appears  to  have  had  a  king  of  its  own/  ^vho  must 
either  have  been  a  vassal  of  tlie  Seleucidie,  or  have 
acquired  an  independent  position  by  revolt  after  the 
death  of  Epiphanes.  In  the  war  which  followed 
between  this  monarch  and  Mithridates,  the  Elymseans 
proved  wholly  unsuccessful,  and  Mithridates  I'apidly 
overran  the  country  and  added  it  to  his  dominions. 
After  this  he  appears  to  have  received  the  submission 
of  the  Persians  on  the  one  hand  and  the  Babylonians 
on  the  otlier,^  and  to  have  rested  on  his  laurels  for 
some  years,'^  having  extended  the  Parthian  sway  from 
the  Hindoo  Koosh  to  the  Euphrates. 

The  chronological  data  which  have  come  down 
to  us  for  this  period  are  too  scanty  to  allow  of  any 
exact  statement  of  the  number  of  years  occupied  by 
Mithridates  in  effecting  these  conquests.  All  that  can 
1)e  said  is  that  he  appears  to  have  commenced  them 
about  B.C.  163,  and  to  have  concluded  them  some  time 
before  n.c.  140,  Avhen  he  was  in  his  turn  attacked  by 
the  Syrians.  Probably  they  had  been  all  effected  by 
the  year  B.C.  150;  since  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
about  that  time**  Mithridates  found  his  power  sufficiently 


'  Justin,  1.  s.  c.  '  Bellum  cum  Ely-  [  nians  is  assigned  by  Orosius  (v.  5) 
mseoruni  rt'se  gessit   [Mithridates].'  !  to  the  time  of  the  contest  betvveon 

^  If  tlie  Persians  and  Babylonians  j  Demetrius  and  Alexander  Bains,  b.c. 
had  been  reduced  by  force  of  arms,  j  lo3-151.  But  the  authority  is  not 
Justin  would  j)rol)ably  have  men-  I  very  good,  and  it  is  probable  that 
tioned  their  reduction  in  Bk.  xli.  ch.  they  submitted  earlier. 
6.  As  it  is,  we  must,  regard  the  ■*  The  reduction  of  the  Bactrians 
submission  of  B.ihylonians  as  im-  by  Mithridates  is  imjilied  in  the 
plied  in  that  chapter,  and  that  of  statement  of  Justin,  that  they  were 
the  Persians  in  Bk.  xxxvi.  ch.  1.  amonz  the  people  wlio  welcomed  the 

^  The   re  luction    of    tiie    Babylo-    expcd  tion  of  Demetrius,  having  ex- 


THE    SIXTH    MONAECHY. 


[CII. 


establislied  in  the  west  to  allow  of  liis  once  more  tnrn- 
ms;  liis  attention  eastward,  and  renewino-  his  ao-crres- 
sions  upon  the  Baetrlan  kingdom,  which  had  passed 
from  the  rule  of  Eucratidas  under  that  of  his  son  and 
successor,  Heliocles.^ 

Heliocles,  who  was  allowed  by  his  father  a  quasi- 
royal  position,^  obtained  the  full  possession  of  the 
Bactrian  throne  by  the  crime  of  parricide.  It  is 
conjectured  that  he  regarded  with  disappi-oval  his 
father's  tame  submission  to  Parthian  ascenihmcy,  and 
desired  the  recovery  of  the  provinces  which  Eucratidas 
had  been  content  to  cede  for  the  sake  of  peace.'^  We 
are  told  that  he  justified  his  crime  on  the  ground  that 
his  father  was  a  public  enemy ;  ^  which  is  best  ex- 
plained by  supposing  that  he  considered  him  the  friend 
of  Bactria's  great  enemy,  Parthia.  If  this  be  the  true 
account  of  the  circumstances  under  which  he  liecame 
king,  his  accession  would  have  been  a  species  of  chal- 
lenge to  the  Parthian  monarch,  whose  ally  he  had 
assassinated.  Mithridates  accordingly  marched  against 
him  with  all  speed,  and  easily  defeating  his  ti'oops,  took 
possession  of  the  greater  part  of  his  dominion.''  hlated 
by  this  success,  he  is  said  to  have  pressed  east\5^ard,  to 
have  invaded  India,  and  overrun  the  country  as  far  as 
the  river  Hydaspes  f  but,  if  it  he  true  that  his  arras  pene- 


perienced  the  cruelty  of  the  Par- 
thians  (xxxvi.  1).  The  exact  time 
of  the  invasion  and  the  Bactrian 
monarch  who  resisted  it,  are  un- 
certain. 

'  This  relation  of  Heliocles  to  Eu- 
cratidas is  jirovcd  l)y  a  coin,  which 
■shows  liiin  to  have  been  associated 
with  that  monarch,  agree  il)ly  to  the 
statement  of  .Instin.  (See  Wilson, 
Ar.  Ant.  p.  2r.4  ;  Lassen,  hid.  Alt. 
ii.    p.   ;jl3.)       Major   Cunningham's 


idea,  that  the  effigies  on  the  obverse 
of  this  coin  reprc  se  t  the  lather  and 
mother  of  Eucratidas,  seems  to  me 
quite  untenable. 

■  Justin,  xli.  (i,  §  5. 

'  Wilson,  p.  2(i4. 

*  Justin,  I.  s.c.  It  may  have  been 
in  the  samespirit  that  Heliocles  took 
the  epithet  of  A//i«(o5,  wiiich  appears 
upon  his  coins. 

''  .Justin,  xli.  0. 

"  Urosius,  V.    5.     Compare  Died. 


CH  v.]      EXTENT  OF  e:\ipire  uxdek  ^iitiiridates.         79 

trated  so  far,  it  is,  at  any  rate,  certain  that  lie  did  not  here 
effect  any  conquest,  Greek  moiiarchs^  of  the  Bactrian 
series  continued  masters  of  Cabul  and  AVestern  India 
till  about  B.C.  126;  no  Parthian  coins  are  found  in  this 
i-egion  ;  nor  do  the  best  anthorities  claim  for  Mithridates 
any  dominion  beyond  the  mountains  which  enclose  on 
the  west  the  valley  of  the  Indus. 

By  his  war  with  Heliocles  the  empire  of  Mithridates 
reached  its  greatest  extension.  It  comprised  now, 
besides  Parthia  Proper,  Bactria,  Aria,  Di'angiana, 
Arachosia,  Mai'giana,  Hyrcania,  the  country  of  the 
Mardi,  Media  Magna,  Susiana,  Persia  and  Babylonia. 
Very  probal>ly  its  limits  were  still  wider.  The  power 
which  possessed  Parthia,  Hyrcania,  and  Bactria,  v>-ould 
rule  almost  of  necessity  over  the  whole  tract  between 
the  Elburz  rano-e  and  the  Oxus,  if  not  even  over  the 
re2:ion  l^etween  the  Oxus  and  the  Jaxartes:  that  which 
held  the  Cas])ian  mountains  and  eastern  Media  could 
not  fail  to  have  influence  over  the  tribes  of  the  Iranic 
desert ;  -while  Assyria  Proper  would  naturally  follow 
the  fortunes  of  Babylonia  and  Susiana.~  Still  the  ex- 
tent of  territory  thus  indicated  rests  only  on  conjecture. 
If  we  confine  ourselves  to  what  is  known  by  positive 
evidence,  we  can  only  say  that  the  Parthian  Kingdom 
of  this  period  contained,  at  least,  the  twelve  provinces 
above  enumerated.  It  thus  stretched  from  east  to  west 
a  distance  of  fifteen  hundred  miles  between  the  Sulei- 
man mountains  and  the  Euphrates,  varying  in  width  from 
three  or  four  hundred  miles — or  even  more — towards 
the   west  and  east,  to  a  naiTow  strip  of  less  than  a 


Sic.  xxxiii.  20.  Tlu'se  conquests  i  -  Moses  of  Chorene  makes  A.s- 
are  somewhat  doubtful,  since  Justin  1  syria  subject  to  Mithridates,  whom 
seems  to  have  known  nothing  of  them.  1  he  calls   'the  grreat  Arsaces  '  (£fis^. 

*  See   Wilson,     Arinna    Antiqua,  \  Arrnen.  ii.  4,  §  Ij. 
pp    268-300.  1 


80  THE    SIXTH    5I0NARCIIY.  [cil.    Y. 

hundred  miles  t(nvard  the  centre,  Tt  prohahly  com- 
prised an  area  of  about  450,000  square  miles  ;  wliicli 
is  somewhat  less  than  that  of  the  modern  Persia. 

Unlike. the  modern  Persia,  however,  the  territory 
consisted  almost  entirely  of  productive  regions.  The 
excellent  quality  of  the  soil  in  Parthia  Proper,  Hyrcania, 
and  IMargiana,  has  been  already  noticed.^  Bacti'ia,  the 
next  province  to  Margania  to^vards  the  east,  Avas  less 
uniformly  fertile  ;  Init  still  it  contained  a  considerable 
propoi'tion  of  good  land  along  the  course  of  the  Oxus 
and  its  tributaries,  which  was  cultivated  in  vineyards 
and  cornfields,  ov  else  pastured  large  herds  of  cattle." 
The  Mardian  mountain  territory  was  well  wooded  f  and 
the  plain  Ijetween  the  mountains  and  the  Caspian  ^vns 
rich  in  the  extreme.'*  Media,  where  it  adjoined  on  the 
desert,  was  comparatively  sterile ;  but  still  even  here 
an  elaborate  system  of  artificial  irrigation  brought  .'i 
belt  of  land  under  culture.^  Further  west,  in  the 
Zagros  chain.  Media  comprised  some  excellent  pasture 
lands,''  together  with  numerous  valleys  as  productive  as 
any  in  Asia.^  Elymais  was,  in  part,  of  the  same  cha- 
racter wnth  the  mountainous  portion  of  Media,  wiiile 
beyond  the  mountain  it  sank  down  into  a  rich  alluvium, 
not  much  inferior  to  the  Babylonian.^  Babylonia  itself 
was  confessedly  the  most  fertile  country  in  Asia.  It 
IDroduced  wheat,  barley,  millet,  sesame,  vetches,  dates, 


>  Supra,  pp.  7,  10,  and  12. 

=  Q.  Cmt.  Jla^t.  Alex.  vii.  4,  5  26  : 
'  Bactriana  tcrr  t  multiplex  et  varia 
natiira  est.  Alibi  miilia  arbor,  et 
vilis  Lirgos  initcsf|iic  fniftiis  alit  : 
scliim  |)inf;ue  crebri  foiitcs  rigant; 
quic  mitiora  .sunt  fruineuto  cunsc- 
runtur*  caUera  aruientoruin  pabiilo 
cedunt.' 

"  Ibid.  vi.  5. 


*  Ibid.  vi.  4. 

"  Polyl).  X   28,  §  0. 

"  Especially  the  district  called 
Ni-a3a,  «here  the  Nisaean  horses 
were  bred.  (Ariian,  E.rp.  Al.  vii. 
13;  Diod.  Sic.  xvii.  110,  §6;  Am. 
Marc,  xxiii.  C.) 

'  See  A)irieiit,  Monarchies,  vol.  ii 
pp.  280,  290,  2nd  ed. 

«Strab.  XV.  3,  §  11. 


CII.    v.]  TROUBLES    IN    SYRIA.  81 

and  fruits  of  all  kinds.^  The  return  of  the  wheat  crop 
was  from  fifty  to  a  hiindred-and-fifty-fold  ;^  while  that 
of  the  barley  crop  w^as  three  hundredfold;^  The  dates 
were  of  unusual  size  and  superior  flavour;*  and 
the  palm,  wliieh  abounded  throughout  the  region, 
fni'nished  an  inexhaustible  supply  both  of  fruit  and 
timber.^ 

The  great  increase  of  power  which  Mithridates  had 
obtained  by  his  conquests  could  not  be  a  matter  of 
indifference  to  the  Syrian  monarchs.  Their  domestic 
troubles — the  contentions  l)etween  Philip  and  Lysias, 
between  Lysias  and  Demetrius  Soter,  Soter  and  Alex- 
ander Balas,  Balas  and  Demetrius  II.,  Demetrius  II.  and 
Tryphon,  had  so  engrossed  them  for  the  space  of  twenty 
years  (from  B.C.  162  to  b.c.  142),  that  they  had  felt  it 
impossible,  bv  hopeless,  to  attempt  any  expedition 
towards  the  East,  for  the  protection  or  recovery  of  their 
provinces.  Mithridates  had  been  allowed  to  pursue  his 
career  of  conquest  unopposed,  so  far  as  the  Syrians 
were  concerned,  and  to  establish  his  sway  from  the 
Hindoo  Koosh  to  the  Euphrates.  But  a  time  at  last 
came  Avlien  home  dangers  were  less  ])ressing,  and  a 
l^rospect  of  engaging  the  terrible  Parthians  with  success 
seemed  to  present  itself.  The  second  Demetrius  had 
not,  indeed,  wholly  overcome  his  domestic  enemy, 
Tryphon ;  but  he  had  so  far  brought  him  into  difficul- 
ties as  to  believe  that  he  might  safely  l)e  left  to  be 
dealt  with  by  his  wife,  Cleopatra,  and  by  his  captains.^ 


'  Hcrod.i.  193  ;  Berosus,  Fr.  1,  §3.  '  Amm.    Marc.    xxiv.    3;  Zosim.    iii. 
'-'  Thcophiast.     Hist.   Plant,    viii.  I  p.  17:>. 

:  Plin.  JI.  y.  xviii.  17.  "  The    troul>le.s    of   the   reign    of 

^  Strab.  xvi.  1,  §  14.  Dcmeirius    are    given    witli    much 

'  Theoplirast.  Ilid.  Plant,  ii.  2.        fulness  in  thj  first  book  of  Macca- 
^  Herod.  1.   s.  c.  ;  Strab.  1.  s.  c;    bees,  ch.  xi.-xiii. 


82  THE    SIXTH    jVIONAECHY.  [ciI.    V. 

At  the  same  time  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the  East 
seemed  to  invite  his  interference.  Mithridates  ruled 
his  new  conquests  with  some  strictness,^  suspecting,  pro- 
bably, their  fidelity,  and  determined  that  he  Avould  not 
by  any  remissness  allow  them  to  escape  from  his  grasp. 
The  native  inhabitants  could  scarcely  be  much  at- 
tached to  the  Syro-Macedonians,  who  had  certainly  not 
treated  them  very  tenderly;^  but  a  possession  of  170 
years'  duration  confers  prestige  in  the  East,  and  a 
strange  yoke  may  have  galled  more  than  one  to  whose 
pressure  they  had  become  accustomed.  Moreover,  all 
the  provinces  which  Parthia  took  from  Syria  contained 
Greek  towns,  and  their  inhabitants  might  at  all  times 
be  depended  on  to  side  with  tlieir  countrymen  against 
the  Asiatics.  At  the  present  conjuncture,  too,  the  num- 
ber of  the  malcontents  was  swelled  by  the  addition  of 
the  recently  subdued  Bactrians,  who  hated  the  Parthian 
yoke,  and  longed  earnestly  for  a  chance  of  recovering 
their  freedom. 

Thus  when  Demetrius  II.,  anxious  to  escape  the 
reproach  of  inertness,^  determined  to  make  an  expedi- 
tion against  the  great  Parthian  monarch,  he  found 
himself  welcomed  as  a  deliverer  by  a  considerable 
number  of  his  enemy's  subjects,  whom  the  liarshness, 
or  the  novelty,  of  tlje  Parthian  rule  had  offended.^  The 
malcontents  joined  his  standard  as  he  advanced  ;  and 
supported,  as  he  thus  was,  by  Persian,  Elyma3an,  and 
Bactrian  contingents,  he  engaged  and  defeated  the  Par- 
thians  in    several    battles.^      Upon    this,    Mithridates, 


'  The  provinces  complained  of 
his  cruelty  ('propter  Arsacithi;  rej^is 
Parthoruiii  crudelitatem.' — Justin, 
xxxvi.  1,  §  3). 

■^  Sec  above,  p.  73 


perio  admoti,  novi  populi  super- 
l>iam  indif^ne  ferebant. '  (Justin, 
xxxvi.  1,  §  3.) 

''  Cilra     et     Persarum,     ct    Ely- 
iineoriim,    et  Bactrianorum   auxiliis 


'  Justin,  xxxvi.  1,  §  3  :   'ad  abo- !  jiivaretur,    nuiUis   ])ra^liis    Parthos 
lendain  set^nitiac  maculam.'  jfudit'     (lb.  §4.     Coni[tarc  xxxviii. 

*  '  Quud    vetcri   Maccflonum    im- 1  9,  §  2.) 


en.    v.]  IXVASION    OF    PARTHIA    BY    DEMETIIIUS.  83 

finding  himself  inferior  in  strength,  liad  i-ecourse  to 
stratagem,  and  having  put  Demetrius  off  his  guard  by 
proposals  of  peace/  attacked  him,  defeated  him,  and 
took  him  prisoner.^  The  invading  army  appears  to 
have  been  destroyed.^  The  captive  monarch  was,  in 
the  first  instance,  conveyed  about  to  the  several  nations 
which  had  revolted,  and  paraded  before  each  in  turn, 
as  a  proof  to  them  of  their  folly  in  lending  him  aid ;  ^ 
but  afterwards  he  was  treated  in  a  manner  befittino-  his 
rank  and  the  high  character  of  his  captor.^  Assio'ned 
a  residence  in  Hyrcania,  he  was  maintained  in  princely 
state,  and  was  even  promised  by  Mithridates  the  hand 
of  his  daughter,  Rhodogune.^  The  Parthian  monarch, 
it  is  probable,  had  the  design  of  conquering  Syria,  and 
thought  it  possil)le  that  he  might  find  it  of  advantao-e  to 
have  a  Syrian  prince  in  his  camp,  well  disposed  towards 
him,  connected  by  marriage,  and  thus  fitted  for  the 
position  of  tributary  monarch,  Bu  the  schemes  of 
Mithridates  proved  abortive.  His  career  had  now 
reached  its  close.  Attacked  by  illness''  not  very  lono- 
after  his  capture  of  Demetrius,  his  strength  proved 
insufiicient  to  bear  up  against  the  malady,  and  he 
died  after  a  glorious  reign  of  about  thirty-eight  years, 
B.C.  136. 


'  Ad  postremum  tamen  pacis  '  dcsciverant,  in  ladibrium  favoris 
simulationc  decejitus  capitur'    (lb.    ostenditur. 

xxxvi.  1,  §  5).  '  Repente  insidiis  ^  Ibid.  1.  p.  c. :  '  Missus  deinde  in 
circumventus  '  (lb.  x.xxviii.  9,  §  Hyrcaniam,  benigne  et  juxta  cultum 
2).  I  pristinse  fortunae  habetur.'    Compare 

*  Justin,  1.  s.  c.  ;  Appian,  Syriac.  j  xxxviii.  9,  §  3.  '  Cui  Arsacides 
p.  132,  A ;  Diod.  Sic.  xxxiv.  15 ;  Parthorum  rex,  mntjno  et  rerjio  ani- 
Ores.  V.  -t.  mo,    misso   in   Hyrcaniam   non  cul- 

'   'Amisso      exercitu'       (Justin,    turn    tantum  regium   pra?stitit,    sed 
xxxviii.   9,  3).     Comp.    1  Mac.   xiv.  I  et  filiam  in  matrinionium  dedit,  &c. 
3-  _  }      ^  -A-PP-  i^yriac.  1.  s   c. 

*  Justin,  xxxvi,  1,  §,3:  '  Traduc- ]  '  '  Advcrsa  valetudine  correptus' 
tus  per  ora  civitutium,  populis,  qui    (Justin,  xli.  6,  §  9). 


84  •  THE   SIXTH  MONARCHY.  [cH.    VL 


CHAPTER  VL 

System  of  government  estahlished  hy  Mlthridntes  I.  Constitulion  of  the 
Parthians.  Government  of  the  Provinces.  Laics  and  Institutions. 
Character  of  Mithridates  I. 

'  Rex,  maijno  et  regio  animo.'— Justin,  xxxviii.  '.),  §  3. 

The  Parthian  institutions  possessed  great  simplicity ; 
and  it  is  pi'obable  that  they  took  a  shape  in  the  reign 
of  Arsaces  I.,  or,  at  any  I'ate,  of  Tiridates,  which  was 
not  greatly  altered  afterwards.  Permanency  is  the  law 
of  Oriental  governments ;  and  in  a  monarchy  which 
lasted  less  than  five  hundi'ed  years,  it  is  not  likely  that 
many  changes  occurred.  The  Parthian  institutions  are 
referred  to  Mithridates  I.,  rather  than  to  Tiridates, 
because  in  the  reign  of  Mithridates  Parthia  entered 
upon  a  new  phase  of  her  existence — became  an  empire 
instead  of  a  mere  monarchy ;  and  the  sovereign  of  the 
time  could  not  but  have  reviewed  the  circumstances  of 
his  State,  and  have  determined  either  to  adopt  the 
previous  institutions  of  his  country,  or  to  reject  them. 
Mithridates  I.  had  attained  a  position  which  entitled 
and  enabled  him  to  settle  the  Parthian  constitution 
as  he  thought  best ;  and,  if  he  maintained  an  earlier 
arrangement,  which  is  uncertain,  he  nuist  liave  done  so 
of  his  own  free  will,  sim[)l3^  because  he  preferred  the 
existing  PartluJin  institutions  to  any  oth(;)'.  Thus  the 
institutions  may  be  regarded  as  starting  from  him,  since 
he  approved  them,  and  n)ade  them  those  of  the  Par- 
thian p:MPniE. 

Uke  most  sovereio-nties  wliich  have  ai"isen  out  of  an 


CII.    Tl]        PAKTIIIAN    SYSTE:\r    OF    GOVERNMENT.  85 

association  of  chiefs  banding:  themselves  too^ether  for 
warlike  purposes  under  a  single  head,  the  Parthian 
monarchy  was  limited.  The  king  Avas  permanently 
advised  by  two  councils,  consisting  of  persons  not  of 
his  own  nomination,  whom  rights,  conferred  by  birth  or 
office,  entitled  to  their  seats.  One  of  these  Avas  a  family 
conclave  {concilium  domesticum),  or  assembly  of  the 
full-grown  males  of  the  Koyal  House ;  the  other  was  a 
Senate  comprising  both  the  spiritual  and  the  temjwral 
chiefs  of  the  nation,  the  Sophi,  or  '  AVise  Men,'  and  the 
Magi,  or  '  Priests.'  ^  Together  these  two  bodies  consti- 
tuted tlie  Megistanes,  the  '  Nobles  '  or  '  Great  Men  ' — 
the  ])rivileged  class  which  to  a  considerable  extent 
checked  and  controlled  the  monarch.  Tlie  monarchy 
was  elective,  but  onl}'  in  the  house  of  the  Arsacid;e ; 
and  the  concurrent  vote  of  both  councils  Avas  necessary 
in  the  aj^pointment  of  a  new  king.  Practically,  the 
ordinary  law  of  hereditary  descent  appears  to  have  been 
followed,  unless  in  the  case  whei'e  a  king  left  no  son  of 
sufficient  age  to  exercise  the  royal  office.  Under  such 
circumstances,  the  Megistanes  usually  nominated  the 
lat(^  king's  next  brother  to  succeed  him,^or,  if  he  liad  left 
behind  him  no  brother,  went  l)ackto  an  uncle.'^  AVhen 
the  line  of  succession  had  once  been  chano-ed,  the  riixht 
of  the  elder  branch  was  lost,  and  did  not  revive  unless 
the  branch  prefei'red  died  out  or  possessed  no  member 
qualified  to  rule.  When  a  king  had  been  duly  nomi- 
nated by   the  two  councils,  the  right  of  placing  the 


'  Posidonius  ap.  Strab.  xi.  9,  •  Mithridates  I.,  Orodes  T.,  Gotarzps, 
§  3.  Tijy  \lapf)vaLuv  avvidpiov  ^Tjniv  .  Chosrol'S,  and  Artabanus  III  One 
fhini  UoneuStjvLoi  (hrTov,  to  filv  avy.  of  these,  howerer,  that  of  Mithri- 
ytvCor,  To  (\t  ao<pu>v  Kal  /xdyov,  £|  uv  \  dates  I.,  is  ascribeil  to  the  will  of 
aiKiinr  Tovi  jjanWili  KaOinTanOai.  the  previous  monarch. 

"There  are  five  instances  of  ^  As  in  the  case  of  Artabanus  I., 
brothers  succeeding — viz.,  those  of    the  successor  of  Phraates  II. 


86 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.    VI. 


diadem  upon  his  head  belonged  to  the  Surena/  the 
'  Field-Marshal,'  or  '  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Par- 
thian armies,'  The  Megistanes  further  claimed  and 
sometimes  exercised  the  right  of  deposing  a  monarch 
whose  conduct  displeased  them ;  but  an  attempt  to 
exercise  this  privilege  was  sure  to  be  followed  by  a 
civil  war,  no  monarch  accepting  his  deposition  without 
a  struggle  ;  and  force,  not  right,  practically  determining 
whether  he  should  remain  ^kins:  ov  no. 

After  a  king  was  once  elected  and  firmly  fixed  upon 
the  throne,  his  power  appears  to  have  been  nearly 
despotic.  At  any  rate  he  could  put  to  death  without 
trial  whomsoever  he  chose  ;  and  adult  members  of  the 
Royal  House,  who  provoked  the  reigning  monarch's 
jealousy,  were  constantly  so  treated.^  Probably  it 
would  have  been  more  dangerous  to  arouse  the  fears  of 
the  '  Sophi '  and  '  Magi.'  The  latter  especially  Avere  a 
powerful  body,  consisting  of  an  organised  hierarchy, 
which  had  come  down  from  ancient  times,  and  was 
feared  and  venerated  by  all  classes  of  the  people.^ 
Their  numbers  at  the  close  of  the  Empire,  counting 
adult  males  only,  are  i*eckoned  at  eighty  thousand;^ 
they  possessed  consideral)le  tracts  of  fertile  land,^  and 
were  the  sole  inhabitants  of  many  large  towns  or  vil- 
lages, Avhich  they  were  permitted  to  govern  as  they 
pleased.*'  The  arbitrary  power  of  the  monarchs  must, 
in  practice,  have  been  largely  checked  by  the  privileges 


'Tacit.  Arui.  vi.  42;  Appian, 
ParfJi.  p.  141,  A.  According  to 
this  latter  writer,  the  right  was  he- 
reditary in  the  family  to  which  the 
Siirena  who  02)posed  Crassus  be- 
longed. 

■  Phraates  IV.,  on  his  accession, 
put  to  death  his  twenty-nine  bro- 
thers. 


^  The  high  position  of  the  Magi 
under  the  Parthian  kings  is  strongly 
marked  by  their  place  in  the  Great 
Council.  (See  above,  p.  85,  note 
1.) 

■*  Gibbon,  Decline  ainl  Fall,  vol.  i. 
p.  3-53   (Smith's  edition). 

''  Amm.  Marc,  xxiii.  G  ;  p.  405. 

"  Ibid.  p.  406. 


en.    YI.J  THE   VITAX^.  87 

of  this  numerous  priestly  caste,  of  wliicli  it  would  seem 
that  in  later  times  they  became  jealous,  thereby  pre- 
paring the  way  for  their  own  downfall.^ 

The  dominion  of  the  Parthians  over  the  conquered 
provinces  Avas  maintained  l)y  ireverting  to  the  system 
Avhich  had  prevailed  generally  through  the  East  before 
the  accession  of  the  Persians  to  power,  and  establishing 
in  the  various  countries  either  viceroys,  holding  office 
for  life,  or  sometimes  dependent  dynasties  of  kings."^ 
In  either  case,  the  rulers,  so  long  as  they  p:iid  tribute 
regularly  to  the  Parthian  monarchs  and  aided  them  in 
their  wars,  were  allowed  to  govern  the  people  beneath 
their  sway  at  their  pleasure.  Among  monarchs,  in  the 
higher  sense  of  the  term,  may  be  ('numerated  the  kings 
of  Persia,^  Elymais,^  Adiabene,^  Osrhoene,^  and  of 
Armenia  and  Media  Atropatene,  when  they  formed,  as 
they  sometimes  did,  portions  of  the  Parthian  Empire. 
The  viceroys,  who  governed  the  other  provinces,  bore 
the  title  of  Vitaxoe  (^ftiGzaKsi),  and  were  fourteen  or 
fifteen  in  numl)er7  The  remark  has  been  made  by 
the  historian,  Gibbon,^  that  the  system  thus  established 
'  exhibited  under  other  names,  a  lively  image  of  the 
feudal  system,  which  has  since  prevailed  in  Europe.' 


'  Agathias,  li.  25.  To  fiayiKdv 
di'Aov  eyKparii  i^  SKeivov  [rov  'kpra- 
^dpov]   yiyovE  Koi  ay^puxov,  bv  fz^v  fj(')ri 

Kal     TTpOTSpOV,     OVTTG)    f'^    H      TOVTO     Tlflt/i 

re    KOi    Tzn^iftTjoiai  i/pfiivoi',  a/Jk'  6-olov 

i'TTu  tC)v  tv  TiTifi  eariv  ^  koX  ~epiopuaOai. 

'  Pliny   correctly    calls    the    Par 


®  Joseph.  Ant.  Jud.  xx.  2  ;  Oros- 
vii.  6;  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.   19. 

'  Dio  Cass.  xl.  -20  ;  Ixviii    18. 

'  Ammianus  makes  the  vifaxa' 
eighteen  in  number,  but  includes 
iunfing   them  the    'kitgs'of   Persia 


thian  provinces  '  kingdoms.'  ( '  ^/'y- ;  Susiana,  &c.  He  explains  the  term 
na  Parthorum  octodecim  sunt  oiii-  j  ^^  signifying  '  Masters  of  ^'  e  Horse 
nia,'    H.    JV.    vi.    2.5.)       The    Greek  1  and  Royal  Satraps';  bu^   .^esychius 


writers  most    commonly   call    them 
'satrapies,'  but  incorrectly. 
=  Strab.  XV.  3.  ?  24. 


says    more     briefly,    °    <l    j  robably 

more  correctly,  /i/rrrn^  5, 3«<J<?.f if  rro^a 
Ufprsaii   (i.e.   Wdpdoic;'). 


'  Ibid.  xvi.  l.S  19.     This  monarch  I      "  DrcUne  and  Fall.  vol.  i.   p.  339, 
appears  to  have  had  special  privileges.    Smith's  edition. 


88 


THE    SIXTH    lirONARCHY. 


[CH. 


vr. 


The  comparison  is  of  some  value,  but,  like  most  histo- 
rical parallels,  it  is  inexact,  the  points  of  difference 
l)et\veen  the  Pai'thian  and  the  feudal  system  being 
proljably  more  numerous  than  those  of  resemblance, 
but  the  points  of  resemblance  being  very  main  points, 
not  few  in  numbei-,  and  striking. 

It  was  with  special  reference  to  the  system  thus 
established  that  the  Parthian  monarchs  took  the  title  of 
*  King  of  Kings  '  (/SaffiXsv?  ^affiXtcov),  so  frequent  upon 
their  coins,^  which  seems  sometimes  to  have  been 
exchanged  for  what  was  regarded  as  an  ecpiivalent 
phrase,^ '  Satrap  of  Satraps  '  (^GaTpocTtt),  roov  GarpaTroov), 
This  title  seems  to  ap23ear  first  on  the  coins  of  Mith- 
ridates  I. 

In  the  Parthian  system  there  was  one  anomaly  of  a 
very  curious  character.  The  Greek  towns,  which  were 
scattered  in  lai-ge  numbers  throughout  the  Empire,^ 
enjoyed  a  niuiiici[)al  government  of  their  own,  and  in 
some  cases  were  almost  independent  communities,  the 
Parthian  kings  exercising  over  them  little  or  no  control. 
The  gi'eat  city  of  Seleucia  on  the  Tigris  was  the  most 
iin])ortant  of  all  these  :  its  population  was  estimated  in 
the  first  century  after  Christ  at  six  hundred  thousand 
souls ;  '^  it  had  strong  walls,^  and  was  surrounded  by  a 


'  See  Lindsay,  JT-n'ory  of  the  Par- 
thiiiiiH,  ]).  2i;j.  In  one  instance  the 
plirasc  is  exchimg  d  for  i3aaiAevovToi 
liarji.'  fu)v. 

■  The  fdirasc  '  Sutrap  of  ffa traps' 
occurs  only  in  one  inscription,  tiiat 
of  (jiot'rze-;  at  l>e'iis;un,  and  lias 
been  thouglit  to  throw  some  doiiht 
on  the  identilicition  of  the  Gotarzcs 
•who  set  it  up  with  tuc  twc^nty-first 
Arsaces.  IJiil  the  doubt  is  scaiccly 
reasonable;  and  it  does  not  seem 
unlikely  that  under  tlie  Parthian 
system  the  distinct  force  of  the 
worvl  'satrap'  would  be  lost,  and  it 


would  come  to  be  regarded  as  a  title 
e(iuivalent  to  king. 

"  Appian  enumerates  twenty-five 
besides  those  thai  Sclcucus  Nica- 
tor  l)uilt  and  named  after  himself 
or  his  relations,  which  he  estimates 
at  thirty  five  more.  {S>/ri(K-it,  pp. 
124,  125.)  Isidor  of  Charax  finds, 
upon  a  single  line  of  loute,  Hxtcen 
(Mans.  Purth.  §  1-1  ).  On  the 
general  subject,  see  Giote.  Hhtory  of 
Greece,  vol.  viii.  p.  474,  cd.  of  18G2. 

^  Plin.  11  N.  vi.  3('.. 

'  '  (Mvitas  potcns,  septa  niuris.' 
(Tac.  Ann.  vi.  42.; 


CH.    VI.]  THE    GREEK   TOWNS.  89 

most  fertile  territory.^  It  had  its  own  senate,  or  muni-. 
ci])al  council,  of  three  Imndred  members,  elected  by  the 
])eople  to  I'lile  them  from  among  the  wealthiest  and 
best  educated  of  the  citizens.^  Under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, it  enjoyed  the  blessing  of  complete  self-govern- 
ment, and  was  entirely  free  from  Parthian  interference, 
])aying  no  doubt  its  tribute,  but  otherwise  holding  the 
position  of  a  '  free  city.'  It  was  only  in  the  case  of 
internal  dissensions  that  these  advantages  Avere  lost, 
and  the  Parthian  soldiery,  invited  within  the  walls, 
arranged  the  quairels  of  parties,  and  settled  the  consti- 
tution of  the  State  at  its  pleasure.  Privileges  of  a 
similar  character,  though,  probably,  less  extensive, 
belonged  (it  would  seem)  to  most  of  the  other  Greek 
cities  of  the  Empire.  The  Parthian  monarchs  thought 
it  polite  to  favour  them  ;  and  their  practice  justified 
the  title  of  '  Phil-Hellene,'  which  they  were  fond  of 
assuming  upon  their  coins.  On  the  whole,  the  policy 
may  have  been  wise,  but  it  diminished  the  unity  of  the 
Empire  ;  and  there  Avere  times  when  serious  danger 
arose  from  it.  The  Syro-Macedoniau  monai'chs  could 
always  count  with  certainty  on  having  powerful  friends 
in  Parthia,  whatever  portion  of  it  they  invaded  ;  and 
even  the  Ilomaus,  though  their  ethnic  connection  with 
the  cities  ^vas  not  so  close,  were  sometimes  indebted  to 
them  for  very  important  assistance.^ 

A\  e  are  told  that  ]\Iithridates  I.,  after  effectinsr  his 
con(piest>*,  made  a  collection  of  the  best  laws  which  he 
found  to  prevail  among  the  various  subject  peoples,  and 
imposed  them  u})on  the  Parthian  nation.'*     This  state- 


'  'Agcr    toMus    Orientis    ferfilis-  and   Macedonian    colonies    in  Meso- 

simus.'     (Plin.  1.  s.  c.)  potamia  at  the  lime  of  the  invasion 

^  'Treceiiti,   opibus  aut  sapientia  of  Crassus  (xl.  K!).      Compare  Ap- 

delecti,  ut  Senatus.'    (Tacit.  1.  s.  c.)  pian,  Parthica,  p.  loO,  I). 

^  t^co  what.  Dio  says  of  the  Greek        ''  biod.  Sic.  xxxiii.  'JO. 


90 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.    VI. 


•ment  is,  uo  doubt,  an  exaggeration ;  but  we  may  attri- 
bute, with  some  reason,  to  Mitliridates  the  introduction 
at  this  time  of  various  practices  and  usages,  whereby 
the  Parthian  Court  was  assimilated  to  those  of  the 
'earlier  Great  Monarchies  of  Asia,  and  became  in  the 
eyes  of  foreigners  the  successor  and  representative  of 
the  old  Assyrian  and  Persian  Kingdoms.  The  assump- 
tion of  new  titles  and  of  a  new  state — the  oi'ganisation 
of  the  Court  on  a  new  plan — the  bestowal  of  a  new 
character  on  the  subordinate  officers  of  the  Empire, 
Avere  suitable  to  the  new  phase  of  its  life  on  which  the 
monarchy  had  now  entered,  and  may  with  the  highest 
j^robability,  if  not  with  absolute  certainty,  be  assigned 
to  this  period. 

It  has  been  already  noticed  that  Mithridates  appears 
to  have  been  the  first  Parthian  sovereign  wlio  took  the 
title  of  ^  King  of  Kings.'  ^  The  title  had  been  a  favourite 
one  with  the  old  Assyrian  and  Persian  monarchs,^  but 
was  not  adopted  either  by  the  Seleucidjie  or  by  the 
Greek  kings  of  Bactria.^  Its  revival  implied  a  distinct 
pretension  to  that  mastery  of  Western  Asia  which  had 
belonged  of  old  to  the  Assyrians  and  Persians,  and 
which  was,  in  later  times,  formally  claimed  by  Arta- 
xerxes,"*  the  son  of  Sassan,  the  founder  of  the  New 
Persian  Kingdom.  Previous  Parthian  monarchs  had 
been  content  to  call  themselves  'the  King,'  or  'tlie 
Great  King' — Mithridates  is  'the  King  of  Kings,  the 
great  and  illustrious  Arsaces.' 

At    the    same    time    Mithridates   appears   to    have 


'  Supra,  p.  88. 

'■'  See  TUjldUi-Pllescr  Inscr'iption, 
p.  20 ;  Beldxt.  Lis.  col.  i.  par.  1 ; 
Perupp.  liiH.  passim. 

^  The  Solcucida;  from  first  to  last 
rftain  tlio  modest  HAi;iAP:i22.  The 
Graeco-Hactrian  kings  use  the  same 


style  at  first,  hut  afterwards  change 
it  for  BAlIAEiii;  MKrALOY.  (See 
WiNon,  Arid/Id  Antii/ua,  pp.  237- 
241.)  'l'i<j;ran(S  of  Armenia,  like 
the  later  J*arihian  monarchs,  claims 
to  he  lidOi.Ardi  SarnAnjJV. 
*  Herodian,  vi.  6. 


CII.  VI.]  TITLES    AND    STATE    OE    THE    KllS^G. 


9] 


assumed  tlie  tiara,  or  tall  stiff  crown,  which,  with  cer- 
tain niodih  nations  in  its  shape,  had  been  the  mark  of 
sovereignty,  l)oth  under  the  Assyrians  and  under  the 
Persians.  Previously  the  royal  head-dress  had  been 
either  a  mere  cap  of  a  Scythic  type,  but  lower  than  the 
Scyths  commonly  wore  it ;  ^  or  the  ordinary  diadem, 
which  was  a  band  round  the  head  terminating  in  two 
lona:  ril)bons  or  ends,  that  huno-  down  behind  the  head 
on  the  back.     According  to  Herodiau,  the  diadem,  in 


Arsaces  I. 


Mithridates  I. 


Artabanus  I. 


the  later  times,  was  double;^  but  the  coins  of  Parthia 
do  not  exhibit  this  peculiarity. 

Ammianus  says,^  that  among  the  titles  assumed  by 
the  Parthian  monarchs  was  that  of  '  Brother  of  the  Sun 
and  Moon.'  It  appears  that  something  of  a  divine 
character  wfis  re2:arded  as  attach  ins:  to  the  race.  In 
the  civil  contentions,  which  occur  so  frequently  through- 
out the  later  history,  combatants  abstained  from  lifting 
their  hands  knowingly  against  an  Arsacid,  to  kill  or 
wound  one  being  looked  upon  as  sacrilege.^  The  name 
of  Qeo;  was  occasionally  assumed,  as  it  was  in  Syria  ; 
and  moi-e  frequently  kings  took  the  epithet  of  OeoTrdroop, 
which  implied  the  divinity  of  their  father.^     After  his 


'  On  the  ordinary  Scythic  cap,  see 
the  author's  Heroihjtu:^^  vol.  iii.  p.  3, 
and  vol.  iv.  p.  .53. 

"^  Herodian,   vi.  6. 

'  Amm.  Marc,  xxiii.  6 ;  '  Ad  id 
temnus  reg;es  ojiisdem  gentis  per- 
tumidi  appellari  se  patiiintur  SoHs 
fratres    atque     Lunaa.'      Tlie    same 


title  is  borne  by  the  modern  Shahs 
of  Persia. 

*  Ibid.  '  In  qualibet  civili  con- 
certatione,  qutc  assidue  apud  eos 
eveniunt,  velut  sacriU'giuni  quisqiie 
cavet  ne  dextera  sua  Arsacidcm 
anna  gestantem  feriat  vol  privatum.' 

'■'   According     to     Mr.       Lindsay, 


92 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CII.  A'l. 


death  a  monarch  seems  generally  to  have  been  the 
object  of  a  qualified  worship ;  statues  were  erected  to 
liiin  in  the  temples,  where  (apparently)  tliey  wtre  asso- 
ciated with  the  images  of  the  great  luminaries.^ 

Of  the  Parthian  Court  and  its  customs  wo  have  no 
account  that  is  either  complete  or  trustworthy.  Some 
particulars,  however,  may  l)e  gathered  of  it  on  Avhich 
we  may  place  reliance.  The  l)est  authorities  are  agreed 
that  it  was  not  stationary,  but  migrated  at  different 
times  of  the  year  to  different  cities  of  the  Empire,  in 
this  resembling^  the  Court  of  the  Achiemenians,  It  is 
not  quite  clear,  however,  which  were  the  cities  thus 
honoured,  Ctesiphon  was  undoubtedly  one  of  them. 
All  writers  agree  that  it  was  the  chief  city  of  the  Em- 
pire, and  the  ordinary  seat  of  the  government.^  Here, 
according  to  Strabo,  the  kings  passed  the  winter  months, 
deli2:htino:  in  the  excellence  of  the  air.^  The  tow^n  was 
situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Tigris,  opposite  to 
Seleucia,  twelve  or  thirteen  miles  below  the  modern 
Baghdad.  Pliny  says^  that  it  was  built  by  the  Par- 
thians  in  order  to  reduce  Seleucia  to  insignificance,  and 
that  when  it  failed  of  its  purpose,  they  built  another 
city,  Yologesocerta,  in  the  same  neighbourhood  with 
the  same  object ;  but  the  acccount  of  Strabo  is  more 


Priapatius  was  the  first  '  Theopator ' 
(Ilifftor}/  of  tlie  P'lrthiaiis^  p.  213). 
Others  make  the  first  to  have  been 
Phraates  TI.,  tliu  son  and  successor 
of  Milhridates  ((Jlintoii,  Fdnti  lio- 
mani,  vol.  ii.  p.  S^a).  The  first  king; 
wlio  took  I  he  epithet  of  Oeui  is 
tlio'i^^'lit  to  be  Phraates  III.  (Ibid.) 
'  See  Mos.  Chor.  JftHf.  Arvian. 
ii.  74.  'Fanorum  religiones  pne- 
cipiie  instaunvit.  .  .  Statuas 
auteiM,  (|uas  Vahirsaces  majoribus 
suis  statiierat,  Solisquo  ct  Lunae 
siinulachra,    qua3    iilc        .       .       Ar- 


taxata  deportaverat,  ea  Artasires 
COD  f  regit.' 

-  PHny  calls  it  'caput  regnorum ' 
(//.  N.  vi.  2{\) ;  Tacituv.  '  sedes 
imperii'  (.1////.  vi.  26;.  I)io  Cas- 
sius  describes  it  as  -d/.ii  h>  y  (iani- 
'Acia  [ill  Jli'ifiOoi^  tx'ivnc  (Illst. 
Horn,  xl.-  45)  ;  Auunianus  (xxiii.  6, 
p.  402),  as  '  I'ersidis  specimen 
sununum.' 

■*  F.'iMantv  tvravOa  roil  ^f«//6)i'(>S 
(hdyeiv  oi  jianO^elq  (Wd  to  evuepov 
(xvi.  1,  §10). 

*  II.  N.  vi.  26;  §  122. 


CII.  \I.^ 


MIGUATIONS    OF   THE    COUET. 


93 


probable — viz.,  tliat  it  grew  uj)  gradually  out  of  the 
wish  of  tbe  Parthian  kings  to  spare  Seleucia  the  unplea- 
santness of  having  the  rude  soldiery,  which  followed  the 
Court  from  j)lace  to  place,  quartered  upon  tliem.^  The 
remainder  of  the  year,  Strabo  tells  us,  was  spent  by  the 
Parthian  kings  either  at  the  Median  city  of  Ecbatana, 
which  i>i  the  modern  Hamadan,  or  in  the  province  of 
Hyrcania.'  In  Hyrcania,  the  palace,  according  to  him, 
was  at  Tape'  f  and  between  this  place  and  Ecbatana  he 
no  doubt  regarded  the  monarchs  as  spending  the  time 
which  was  not  passed  at  Ctesiphon.  Athenseus,  how- 
ever, declares  that  Phages  was  the  spring  residence  of 
the  Parthian  kings  f  and  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  this 
famous  city,  which  Isidore,  writing  in  Parthian  times, 
calls  'the  greatest  in  Media,' °  was  among  the  occasional 
residences  of  the  Court.  Parthia  itself  Avas,  it  would 
seem,  deserted  f  but  still  a  city  of  that  region  preserved 
in  one  respect  a  royal  character,  being  the  place  where 
all  the  earlier  kino-s  were  interred.'^ 

The  pomp  and  grandeur  of  the  Parthian  monarchs 
are  descril)ed  only  in  the  vaguest  terms  by  the  classical 
wi-iters.  No  author  of  repute  appears  to  have  visited 
the  Parthian  Court.  We  may  perhaps  best  obtain  a 
true  notion  of  the  splendour  of  the  sovereign  from  the. 
accounts  which  have   reached  us  of  his  relations  and 


'  Strab.  1.  S  C.  Tnvrnv  ettolovvto 
Xeifidihoif  oi  Tuv  Tlaiidvaicjv  finai'/.el'i, 
(peu^o/iFvot  Ttliv  ^e?.eviituv,  ii>a  /jr/  Kara- 
nrndfievnivTo  inra  rov  S/cuOt/coi)  (jiv/^ov 
Kai  orparKjTiKnv. 

■  Strab.    1.  s.  c.     Compare  xi.  13, 

§  1- 

'  Ihid.  xi.  7.  §  2. 

*  DelpnosopJi.  xii.  8 ;  p.  514. 

^  Mrni)^.  PdHli,  §  7. 

'  An    occasional   flying  Aisit  may 


have  been  paid  to  Hecitompylos. 
^iiere  the  old  palace  of  the  early 
kinii;swas  maintiiiued  ;it  least  to  the 
time  of  Strabo  (xi.  9.  ^  1)  ;  but  the 
province  w;is  not  rich  enough  to 
furnish  fo'>d  for  the  vast  numbers 
of  the  ht^r  Court.      (Il)id.) 

'  Isid.  C'.Kir.  Mam.  Parth.  §  12. 
In  later  times  Arliela  appears  to 
have  bec'>me  the  royal  burying- 
place  (D.  Cass.  Ixxviii.  1). 


94  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  VI. 

officers,  wLo  can  have  reflected  only  faintly  the  magni- 
ficence of  the  sovereign.  Plutarch  tells  us  that  the 
general  whom  Orodes  deputed  to  conduct  the  war 
against  Crassus  came  into  the  field  accompanied  by  two 
hundred  litters  wherein  were  contained  his  concubines, 
and  by  a  thousand  camels  which  carried  his  baggage.^ 
His  dress  was  fashioned  after  that  of  the  Medes;  he 
wore  his  hair  parted  in  the  middle  and  had  his  face 
painted  with  cosmetics.^  A  body  of  ten  thousand 
horse,  composed  entirely  of  his  clients  and  slaves,  fol- 
lowed him  in  battle.^  We  may  conclude  from  this 
picture,  and  from  the  general  tenor  of  the  classical 
notices,  that  the  Arsacid?e  revived  and  maintained  very 
much  such  a  Court  as  that  of  the  old  Achtemenian 
princes,  falling  probably  somewhat  below  their  model 
in  politeness  and  refinement,  but  equalling  it  in  luxury, 
in  extravagant  expenditure,  and  in  display. 

Such  seems  to  have  been  the  general  character  of  those 
practices  and  institutions  which  distinguish  the  Par- 
thians  from  the  foundation  of  their  Empire  by  Mithri- 
dates.  Some  of  them,  it  is  probable,  he  rather  adopted 
than  invented  ;  but  there  is  no  good  I'eason  for  doubt- 
ing that  of  many  he  was  the  originator.  He  appears 
to  have  been  one  of  those  I'are  individuals  to  whom  it 
has  V^een  given  to  unite  the  powers  which  form  the 
conqueror  with  those  which  constitute  the  successful 
organiser  of  a  State.  Brave  and  enter])rising  in  war, 
prompt  to  seize  an  occasion  and  to  turn  it  to  the  best 
advantage,  not  even  averse  to  severities  Avhei'e  they 
seemed  to  be  i'equired,he  yet  felt  no  acrimony  towards 
those  who  had  resisted  his  arms,  but  was  ready  to  be- 


'    Plutarch,     Vit.     Crass.   §      21.  i      "- Pint.   Vit.  Crass.  ^  24. 
Comp.    Appian,    Parthka,  p.  141,  A.  I      ^  Ibid.  §  21. 


CII. 


VI.] 


ClIARACTEU    OF   MITHRIDATES    I. 


95 


friend  them  so  soon  as  their  resistance  ceased.  Mild, 
clement,  philanthropic/  he  conciliated  those  whom  he 
subdued  almost  more  easily  than  he  subdued  them,  and 
by  the  efforts  of  a  few  years  succeeded  in  welding 
toG:ether  a  dominion  which  lasted  without  sufferino- 
serious  mutilation  for  nearly  four  centuries.  Though 
not  dignified  with  the  epithet  of '  Gi'eat,'  he  was  beyond 
all  question  the  greatest  of  the  Parthian  monarchs. 
Later  times  did  him  more  justice  than  his  contempo- 
raries, and,  when  the  names  of  almost  all  the  other 
kings  had  sunk  into  oblivion,  retained  his  in  honour, 
and  placed  it  on  a  par  with  that  of  the  original  founder 
of  Parthian  independence.^ 


'  Diod.  Sic.  xxxiii.  20. 

'  See  A<iathia.s,  who,  writing 
under  the  Byzantine  emperors,  ab. 
A.D.  560-580,  thus  sums  up  the 
Parthian  period :  IlapQvalot,  adioi 
KarjjKoov  Kal  fiKiara  iv  tu  tt/jo  tov 
ovouaarilraTov,  TzapO.vaav  rr/f  apxrji 
Tovi  MasedotaS.      Kal  elra  EKelvot  Tijv 


d?Mv  nlijv  AlyvKTov  f/yovvro,  'Ap- 
auKov  filv  TTpoTspov  Tt/S  anoGTaaeuS 
ap^afjsvov,  (jS  kuI  ' kpaaKiSa^  Tovi  fiET 
avTov  ovoixd^eaOai,  Mid  p  iSdrov  (5| 
ov  7ro2?.u  varepnv  e?  fieya  tl  K^-eoZ 
TO  n  n  p6v  aio)  V  o  v  o  fj.  a  i  ^ev  ey  - 
KovToi.    (Hist.  ii.  25,  ad  fin.) 


96  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    Yll. 


CHAPTER  Vir. 

Beign  of  Phraates  II.  Expedition  of  Antiochus  Sidetes  against  Parthia. 
Release  of  Demetrius.  Defeat  and  Death  of  Sidetes.  War  of  Phraates 
with  the  northern  JSfornads.     His  death  and  character. 

'  Postnccum  Mitliridater:,  Partliorum  reais,  Phrahates  Alius  ejus  rex 
constiluitur.' — Justin,  xlii.  1,  |  1. 

MiTHRiDATEs  was  succeedecl  by  liis  son,  Phraates,  the 
.second  monarcli  of  the  name,  and  the  seventh  Arsaces. 
This  prince,  entertaining,  like  his  father,  the  design  of 
invading  Syria,  and  expecting  to  find  some  advantage 
from  having  in  his  camp  the  rightful  occupant  of  the 
Syrian  throne,^  treated  the  captive  Demetrius  with 
even  greater  kindness  than  his  father  had  done,  not 
only  maintaining  him  handsomely,  Init  even  giving  him 
his  sister  llhodogune,  in  marriage.^  Demetrius,  how- 
ever, was  not  to  he  reconciled  to  his  captivity  by  any 
such  blandishment^,  and  emjdoyed  his  thoughts  cliiefly 
in  devising  plans  ])y  which  he  might  escape.  By  the 
help  of  a  friend,  he  twice  managed  to  evade  the  vigi- 
lance of  his  guards,  and  to  make  his  way  from  Ilyrcania 
towards  the  frontiers  of  his  own  kingdom  ;  but  each 
time  he  was  pursued  and  caught  without  effecting  his 
pui'pose.^  The  Partliian  monarch  was  no  doubt  vexed 
at  his  pertinacity,  and  on  tlie  second  occasion  thought 
it  prudent  to  feign,  if  he  did  not  even  really  feel,  offence : 
he   banished   his  ungrateful     bi-other-in-law    from  his 


'  Justin,  xxxviii.  9,  §  10.  I  take   pare    in    the  reign  of  Mithri- 

*  Appiiin,     Syriac.    p.      1:^2.      A.  i  d:ile~  (  xxxviii.  fl.  §  3). 
Justin,  however,  makes  the  maniajje  |      ^  Justin,  f  4-8. 


err.  ATI.] 


REIGX    OF    PIIRAATES   11. 


97 


presence,^  but  otlierwlse  visited  Ins  crime  with  no 
severer  penalt}^  than  ridicule.  Choosing  to  see  in  his 
attempts  to  change  the  place  of  his  abode  no  serious 
design,  but  only  the  wayward  conduct  of  a  child,  he 
sent  him  a  present  of  some  golden  d:ce,  implying  there- 
by tliat  it  was  only  for  lack  of  amusement  he  had 
grown  discontented  with  his  Hyrcanian  residence.^ 

Antiochus  Sidetes,  the  brother  of  Demetrius,  had 
been  generally  accepted  by  the  Syrians  as  their  monarch, 
at  the  time  when  the  news  reached  them  of  that  prince's 
defeat  and  capture  by  Mithridates.  He  was  an  active 
and  enterprising  sovereign,  though  fond  of  luxury  and 
display.  For  some  years  (b.c.  1J:0 — 137)  the  preten- 
sions of  Tryphon  to  the  throne  gave  him  full  occupa- 
tion;^ but,  having  finally  estaldished  his  authority  after 
a  short  war,  and  punished  the  pretender  with  death, 
he  found  himself,  in  b.c.  137,  at  liberty  to  turn  his  arms 
against  foreign  enemies.  He  would  yjrobaljly  have  at 
once  attacked  Parthia,  Init  for  the  attitude  of  a  nearer 
ueiiirhbour,  which  he  reojarded  as  menacini]^,  and  as 
recpiiring  his  immediate  attention,  Demetrius,  before 
his  departure  for  the  East,  had  rewarded  the  Jews  for 
services  rendered  him  in  his  war  with  Tiyphon  1)y  an 
open  acknowledgment  of  their  independence.'*  Sidetes. 
though  indel)te(l  to  the  Jewish  High  Priest,  Simon,  for 
offers  of  aid  against  the  same  adversary,^  could  not  bring 
himself  to  pay  the  [)rice  for  it  which  Demetrius  had 
thought  reasonable— an  independent  Palestine  appeared 
to  him  a  danirer  close  to  his  doors,  and  one  that 
imperilled  the  v^ry  existence  of  the  Syrian  State.     Ac- 


'  '  Ut  invi-=us,  a  conspectu  siib- 
movetur'  (Ibid.). 

•  •  Talis  aiireis  ad  exprohrationem 
puerilis  levitits  donatur'  (Ibid.;. 


'  1     j\lac.    XV. 
Si/rinc.  p.  132.  B. 
*  1  Mac.  xiii.  36-42 
"  Ibid.  XV.  26. 


10-25  ;    Appian 


98 


THE    SIXTH    MONAliCKY 


[cH.  vn. 


cordingly,  lie  had  no  sooner  put  down  Tryphon  than 
he  resolved  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  the  Jews,  and  to 
force  them  to  resume  their  old  position  of  vassalage  to 
Syria.^  His  general,  Cendebaeus,  invaded  their  country, 
but  was  defeated  near  Azotus.^  Antiochus  had  to  take 
the  field  in  person.^  During  two  years,  John  Hyrcanus, 
who  had  succeeded  his  father,  Simon  (b.c.  135),  baffled 
all  his  efi*orts ;  but  at  last,  in  b.c.  133,  he  was  forced 
to  submit,  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of  Syria,  to 
disiiiantle  Jerusalem,  and  to  resume  the  payment  of 
tribute.  Sidetes  then  considered  the  time  come  for  a 
Parthian  expedition,  and  having  made  great  prepara- 
tions, he  set  out  for  the  East  in  the  spring  of  b.c.  129. 
It  is  impossible  to  accept  without  considerable  re- 
serve the  accounts  that  have  come  down  to  us  of  the 
force  which  Antiochus  collected.  According  to  Jus- 
tin,'* it  consisted  of  no  more  than  80,000  fighting 
men,  to  which  was  attached  the  incredil)le  numl)er  of 
300,000  camp-followers,  the  majority  l)eing  composed 
of  cooks,  bakers,  and  actors.  As  in  other  extreme 
cases  the  camp-followers  do  but  equal  or  a  little  ex- 
ceed the  number  of  men  fit  for  service,^  this  estimate, 
which  makes  them  nearly  four  times  as  numerous,  is 
entitled  to  but  little  credit.  The  late  writer,  Orosius,® 
corrects  the  error  here  indicated  ;  but  liis  account 
seems  to  err  in  rating  the  suj)ernumerai'ies  too  low. 
According  to  him,  the  armed  foi'ce  amounted  to 
300,000,  while  the  camp-followers,  including  grooms, 
sutlers,   courtesans,  and   actors,  were  no  more  than  a 


"  1  Mac.  XV.  28-36. 

"^  Ibid.  xvi.  8-10. 

=  Eiiseb.  Chron.  Can.  i.  40.  §  18  ; 
Joseph.  Ant.  Jud.  xiii.  8,  §  2. 

*  Justin,  xxxviii.  10,  §  2. 

'  See  llcrod.  vii.  186  ;  Tacit. 
Hist.  iii.  33,  Sec. 


"  Orosius  wrote  about  a.d.  420. 
His  chronology  is  exceedingly  con- 
fused, but  lie  occasionally  ])reserves 
in  bis  details  important  facts,  which 
be  has  obtained  from  earlier  writers. 
The  passage  here  referred  to  is  in 
Book  V.  ch.  10. 


en.  vn.]        HIS  WAR  with  antiochus  sidetes.  99 

third  of  tlie  number.  From  the  two  accounts,  taken 
together,  we  are  perhaps  entitled  to  conclude  that  the 
entire  host  did  not  fall  much  short  of  400,000  men. 
This  estimate  receives  confirmation  from  an  iude23en- 
dent  statement  made  by  Diodorus,  with  respect  to  the 
number  who  fell  in  the  campaign  —  a  statement  of 
which  we  shall  have  to  speak  later.^ 

The  army  of  Phraates,  according  to  two  accounts  of 
it^  (which,  however,  seem  to  represent  a  single  original 
authority),  numbered  no  more  than  120,000.  An 
attempt  which  he  made  to  enlist  in  his  service  a  body 
of  Scythian  mercenaries  failed,  the  Scyths  being  willing 
to  lend  their  aid,  but  arriving  too  late  to  be  of  any 
iise.^  At  the  same  time  a  defection  of  the  sul)ject 
princes'*  deprived  the  Parthian  monarch  of  contingents 
which  usually  swelled  his  numbers,  and  threw  him 
upon  the  support  of  his  own  countrymen,  chiefly  or 
solely.  Under  these  circumstances  it  is  more  surpris- 
ing that  he  was  able  to  collect  120,000  men  than  that 
he  did  not  bring  into  the  field  a  larger  number. 

The  Syrian  troops,  magnificently  appointed  ^  and 
supported  by  a  body  of  Jews  under  John  Hyrcanus,^ 
advanced  upon  Babylon,  receiving  on  their  way  the 
adhesion  of  many  of  the  Parthian  tributaries,  who  pro- 
fessed themselves  disgusted  by  the  arrogance  and  pride 
of  their  masters.'''  Phraates,  on  his  part,  advanced  to 
meet  his  enemies,    and  in  person  or  by  his  generals 


'  See  below,  p.  lOo.  i  Val.  Max.    ix.   1),  and  their  cooking 

Porphyr.     ap.     Euseb.      Chron.    utensils  were  of  silver. 

"Joseph.  Ant.  Jud.xm.S.  The 
presence  of  Hyrcanu.s  is  con- 
firmed by  Nicolas  of  Damascus 
(Fr.  74). 

Cum     execratione     superbiae 


Can.  {.   40,  §  18  ;  Mos.  Chor.  Hist. 
Armen.  ii.  2. 

'  Justin,  xlii.  1,  §2. 

*  Ibid,  xxxviii.  10,  §  5. 

^  Accordinc^   to  Justin,    the  com- 


mon   soldiers    liad    their     military    Parthicae'   (Justin,  xxxviii.  10,  §  5). 
boots  fastened   with  gold  (compare  I 


100  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [cH.   VIL 

engaged  Antlocliiis  ia  three  battles,  but  without  suc- 
cess. Aiitiochus  was  three  times  a  conqueror.  In  a 
battle  fought  upon  the  river  Lycus  (Zab)  in  further 
Assyria  he  defeated  the  Parthian  general,  Indates,  and 
raised  a  trophy  in  honour  of  his  victory.^  The  exact 
scene  of  the  other  combats  is  unknown,  l)ut  they  Avere 
probably  in  the  same  neighbourhood.  The  result  of 
them  was  the  conquest  of  Babylonia,  and  the  general 
revolt  of  the  I'emaining  Parthian  provinces,^  which  fol- 
lowed the  common  practice  of  deserting  a  falling 
house,  and  drew  off  or  declared  for  the  enemy. 

Under  these  circumstances  Phraates,  considering  that 
the  time  was  come  when  it  was  necessary  for  him  to 
submit  or  to  create  a  diversion  by  raising  troubles  in  the 
enemy's  territory,  released  Demetrius  from  his  confine- 
ment, and  sent  him,  supported  by  a  body  of  Parthian 
ti'oops,  to  reclaim  his  kingdom.^  He  thought  it  pro- 
bable tliat  Antiochus,  when  the  intelligence  reached 
him,  would  retrace  his  steps,  and  return  i'rom  Babylon 
to  his  own  capital.  At  any  rate  his  efforts  would  be 
distracted;  he  would  be  able  to  draw  fewer  reinforce- 
ment from  home ;  and  he  would  be  less  inclined  to 
proceed  to  any  great  distance  from  his  own  country. 

Antiochus,  however,  was  either  uninformed  of  the 
impending  danger  or  did  not  regard  it  as  very  pressing. 
The  winter  was  approaching;  and,  instead  of  withdraw- 
ing liis  troops  from  the  occupied  provinces  and  march- 
ing them  b:ick  into  Syria,  he  resolved  to  keep  them 
where  tliey  were,  merely  dividing  them,  on  account  of 
their  nund)ers,  among  the  various  cities  whicli  lie  had 
taken,  and  making  them  go  into  winter  quartei's.'*     It 


'  Nic.  Dam.  Fr.  74. 

'  .Justin,  xx.wiii.  10,  §  6. 

^  Porphyr.    up.      Eii.sob.      C/tron. 


Can.  1.  s.  c. ;  Apjiian,  Syriac.  p.  132, 
B  ;  Justin,  xxxviii.  10,  §  7. 
'  Justin,  §  8. 


Cil.  Vil.]  SIDETES    WINTEUS    IN    BABYLOXIA.  101 

was,  no  doubt,  bis  intention  to  remain  ([uiet  during  the 
two  or  three  winter  months,  after  ^vhich  he  would 
have  resumed  the  war,  and  liave  endeavoured  to  pene- 
trate through  Media  into  Parthia  Propei',  where  he 
might  expect  his  adversary  to  make  his  last  stand. 

But  Pliraates  saw  that  the  position  of  affairs  was 
favoural)le  for  striking  a  blow  ])efore  the  spring  came. 
The  dispersion  of  liis  enemy's  troops  deprived  him  of 
all  advantage  from  the  superiority  of  their  numbers. 
The  circumstance  of  their  being  quartered  in  towns 
newly  reduced,  and  unaccustomed  to  the  rudeness  and 
rapacity  of  soldiers  and  camp-followers,  made  it  almost 
certain  that  complications  would  arise,  and  that  it 
would  not  l)e  long  before  in  some  places  the  Parthians, 
so  lately  declared  to  be  oppressors,  would  l)e  hailed  as 
liberators.  Moreover,  the  Parthians  were,  probably, 
better  aV)le  than  their  adversaries  to  endure  the  hard- 
ships and  sevei'ities  of  a  campaign  in  the  (?old  season.^ 
Parthia  is  a  cold  countr}',  and  the  wintei'S,  both  of  the 
great  plateau  of  Iran  and  of  all  the  mountain  tracts 
adjoining  it,  ai'e  severe.  The  climate  of  Syria  is  far 
milder.  Moreover,  the  trooi)s  of  Antiochus  had,  we 
are  informed,  been  enervated  by  an  excessive  indul- 
gence on  the  part  of  their  leader  during  the  marches 
and  halts  of  the  preceding  summer."^  Their  appetites 
had  been  pampered  ;  their    habits    had    ])ecome    un- 


'  Dio    (xl.  46)  speaks  of  the  Par-  sume   as    niucli  as  they  would,  but 

thians  as  disinclined  to  rtiake  war  i  i  (.'vea  to  cary  away  with  them  from 

winter.   Ix'Ciiuse  a  d.imi)  air  relaxed  the    i>anquet,  birds,  beasts,  and  !ish 

their  bow-strings.     But   physically,  that  had  not  l)veii  touched,    to   the 

they    weie    as  capable   of   enduring  extent  of  a  wngion-load  each  ban- 

tlie  winter  cold  as  the  summer  iieats.  quet ;    in  addition    to  which  he  prc- 

■  .\cc0rdin2    to    Po^idnniiis.    An-  sented  them  with  honey-cikes  and 

ti(ichu>    in   this   expedition  "  feasted  garlands    scented    with    myrrh   and 

daily    vast   crowds  of  his  men.  and  frankincense      t  ed       with     golden 

allowed  his  guests  not  only  to  con-  strings  six  feet  long'  (Fr.  17). 


102  THE    SIXTH   MONAKCHT.  [cH.  VIL 

manly ;  tlieir  general  tone  was  relaxed ;  and  they  were 
likely  to  deteriorate  still  more  in  the  wealthy  and 
luxurious  cities  where  they  were  bidden  to  pass  the 
w^inter. 

These  various  circumstances  raised  the  spirits  of 
Phraates,  and  made  him  hold  himself  in  readiness  to 
resume  hostilities  at  a  moment's  notice.  Nor  was  it 
long  before  the  complications  which  he  had  foreseen 
began  to  occur.  The  insolence  of  the  soldiers  *  quar- 
tered upon  them  exasperated  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Mesopotamian  towns,  and  caused  them  to  look  back 
with  regret  to  the  time  when  they  were  Parthian  sub- 
jects. The  requisitions  made  on  them  for  stores  of  all 
kinds  was  a  further  grievance."^  After  a  wdiile  they 
opened  communications  with  Phraates,  and  offered  to 
return  to  their  allegiance  if  he  would  assist  them 
against  their  oppressors.  Phraates  gladly  listened  to 
these  overtures.  At  his  instigation,  a  plot  was  formed 
like  that  wdiich  has  given  so  terrible  a  significance  to 
the  phrase  '  Sicilian  vespers.'  It  was  agreed  that  on  an 
appointed  day  all  the  cities  should  break  out  in  I'evolt: 
the  natives  should  take  arms,  rise  against  the  soldiers 
quartered  upon  them,  and  kill  all,  or  as  many  as  possi- 
ble. Phraates  promised  to.  be  at  hand  with  his  army, 
to  prevent  the  scattered  detachments  from  giving  help 
to  each  other.  It  ^vas  calculated  that  in  this  way  the 
invadei's  might  be  cut  off  almost  to  a  man  without  the 
trouble  of  even  fio-htinq;  a  battle. 

But,  before  he  proceeded  to  extremities,  the  Parthian 
prince  determined  to  give  his  adversary  a  chance  of 

'  Sec  Justin,  xxxviii.  JO,  §  8  ;  and  1  \voi*so  than  others  towards  those  on 


compare  Diodorus  (xxxv.  17,  §2;, 
where  Afhctueus,  one  of  the  gin- 
eiiils  of  Antinflms,  is  suidtohnvc 
distinguished    himself  \>y  beliaving 


wiiom    he    was    quartered,    and    to 
hav  ■  suffered  for  it  afterwards, 
■■'  Justin,  1.  s.  c. 


CII.  YII.]  ATTEMPT    AT    NEGOTIATIOX    FAILS.  103 

escaping  the  fate  i:)repared  for  him  by  timely  conces- 
sions. The  winter  was  uot  over ;  but  the  snow  was 
beginning  to  melt  through  the  increasing  warmth  of 
the  sun's  rays/  and  the  day  appointed  for  the  general 
rising  was  probably  drawing  near.  Phraates  felt  that 
no  time  Nvas  to  be  lost.  Accordingly,  he  sent  ambas- 
sadors to  Antiochus  to  propose  peace,  and  to  inquire 
on  Avhat  conditions  it  woukl  be  granted  him.  The 
reply  of  Antiochus,  according  to  Diodotus,  w^as  as  fol- 
lows : — ^  If  Phraates  would  release  his  prisoner,  Deme- 
trius, from  captivity,  and  deliver  him  up  without 
ransom,^  at  the  same  time  restoring  all  the  provinces 
which  had  been  taken  from  Syria,  and  consenting  to 
pay  a  tribute  for  Parthia  itself,  peace  might  be  had ; 
but  not  other\Adse.'  To  such  terms  it  was,  of  course, 
impossible  that  Phraates  should  listen  ;  and  his  am- 
bassadors, therefore,  returned  without  further  parley. 

Soon  afterwards  the  day  appointed  for  the  outbreak 
arrived.  Apparently,  no  suspicion  had  been  excited. 
The  Syrian  troops  were  everywhere  quietly  enjoying 
themselves  in  their  winter  quarters,  when,  suddenly 
and  without  warning,  they  found  themselves  attacked 
by  the  natives.^    Taken  at  disadvantage,  it  was  im- 


'  This  seems  the  only  way  of 
reconciling  Diodorus  (xxxv.  15) 
with  Porphyry  (ap.  Eusf^b.  1.  s.  c) 
and  Mose-  of  Choiene  (ii.  2).  The 
last  two  distinctly  state  th^t  the 
battle  in  which  Antiochus  f :11  was 
fought  in  the  winter.  Diodorus, 
on    the   other  hand,    speaks  of  the 


ni.  at  th  1  ginniDg  of  he  Printer; 
but  it  may  w.jI  be  that  it  jou»d  n^t 
be  executed  imme'iat  ly.  Th-^ 
severity  of  the  weather  mak:s 
travelling  very  "iffl.ult  .  n  .he  high 
platea'i  during  Decomber  and 
Jr.nuary  •  and  it  would  have  been 
espc  Sally  hrrd  to  cross  tb  •  Zagros 


spring  warmth  as  having  begun  tr  j  range  duiing  this  season.  Deme- 
raelt  the  snow,  when  Phrantes  trius  may  not  have  rcac'ied  Syria 
sent  his  embassy.  til'i    Tebruary,  und   Antio  hus  may, 


It  would  appeir  from  this  that 
Demetrius  vras  either  not  yet  re- 
leased, or  not  known  to  bo  at  large 
by  his  brother.  Proljably  the  order 
to   release   him   was  sent  to  Hyrca- 


theref'>re,   not   have  known  that  he 
was  a*^  liberty. 

'  Justin,  xxxviii.  10,  §8.  'Die 
statuta  cmnes  apiid  sc  divisum 
exercitum   per  insidias,  ne  inyicem 


104 


THE    SIXTH    MONAECHY. 


[CH.  VU 


possible  for  tliem  to  make  a  successful  resistance ;  and 
it  would  seem  that  the  great  bulk  of  them  were  mas- 
sacred in  their  quarters.  Antioclius,  and  the  detach- 
ment stationed  with  him,  alone,  so  far  as  we  hear, 
escaped  into  the  open  field  and  contended  for  their 
lives  in  just  warfare.^  It  bad  been  the  intention  of  the 
Syrian  monarch,  when  be  took  the  field,  to  hasten  to 
the  protection  of  tlie  troops  quartered  nearest  to  him  ; 
but  he  no  sooner  commenced  bis  march  than  be  found 
himself  confi'onted  by  Pbraates,  who  was  at  the  head 
of  his  entii'e  army,  having,  no  doubt,  anticipated  Antio- 
chus's  desio-n  and  resolved  to  frustrate  it.  The  Parthian 
prince  was  anxious  to  e'ngage  at  once,  as  his  force  far 
outnumbered  that  commanded  by  his  adversary ;  but 
the  latter  mio;ht  have  declined  the  battle,  if  he  had  so 
willed,  and  have,  at  any  rate,  gi-eatly  protracted  the 
struggle.  He  had  a  mountain  region — Mount  Zagros, 
probably — within  a  short  distance  of  him,  and  might 
have  fallen  ])ack  upon  it,  so  placing  the  Parthian  horse 
at  great  disadvantage  ;  but  he  was  still  at  an  age  when 
caution  is  apt  to  be  considered  cowardice,  and  temerity 
to  pass  for  true  courage.  Despite  the  advice  of  one  of 
his  'aj^tains,  he  determined  to  acce})t  the  ])attle  which 
the  enemy  offered,  and  not  to  fly  before  a  foe  whom  he 
had  three  times  defeated.^  But  the  determination  of 
the  commander  was  ill  seconded  by  his  army.  1  hough 
Antiochus  fought  sti'enuously,^  he  was  defeated,  since 
his  troops  were  without  heat't  and  offei-ed  l)ut  a  ]X)or 
I'esistance.'*    Antioclius  himself  perished,  eithei-  slain  by 


ferre    auxilii     pos.sent,    aggrcdiun- 
tur.' 

'  .Jii^t'n.   xxxviii.   10,   §  9;   Diod. 
Sic.  xxxiv.  Ifi. 

*  Diod.   Sic.  1.  s.  c. 

*  ' KvriMxf~f>   '"'/"   '■''"^  i3np,idf)t.)i'  t<po- 
6ov    EV(>iJ(jT  ui,      says     Diodorus. 


'Fortius,  qu;im  excrcitus  ejus,  diml- 
cavit,'  says  Justin. 

*  '.\Ietu  siioruii)  dc^crtus  occi- 
ditur'  (Justin,  xxxviii.  10,  §  10). 
Atlieriiuus,  tlic  gciicr.d  who  liad 
advised  retreat,  was  the  first  to  fly. 
(Diod.  Sic.  1.  s.  0.) 


Cir.  VII,]        DESTRUCTION  OF  SIDETES  AND  HIS  ARMY.       105 

the  enemy  or  1)}'  his  own  hand.'  His  son,  Seleucus, 
a  boy  of  tender  age,~  and  liis  niece,  a  daughter  of 
Demetrius,^  who  had  accompanied  him  in  liis  expedi- 
tion, were  captui'ed.  His  ti'oops  were  either  cut  to 
pieces,  or  made  prisoners.  Tlie  entire  number  of  those 
slain  in  the  battle,  and  in  the  previous  massacre,  w^s 
reckoned  at  800,000/ 

Such  w^as  the  issue  of  this  great  expedition.  It  was 
the  last  w^hich  any  Seleucid  monarch  conducted  into 
these  countries — the  final  attempt  made  by  Syria  to  re- 
possess herself  of  her  lost  Eastern  provinces.  Hence- 
forth, Parthia  was  no  further  troubled  by  the  power 
that  had  hitherto  been  her  most  dangerous  enemy,  but 
was  allowed  to  enjoy  without  molestation  from  Syria 
the  conquests  which  she  had  effected.  Syria,  in  fact, 
had  from  this  time  a  difficulty  in  preserving  her  own 
existence.  The  immediate  result  of  the  destruction  of 
Antiochus  and  his  host  was  the  revolt  of  Judaea,^  which 
henceforth  maintained  its  independence  uninterruptedly. 
The  dominions  of  the  Seleucid^e  were  reduced  to 
Cilicia  and  Syria  Proper,^  or  the  tract  west  of  the  Eu- 
phrates, between  Amanus  and.  Palestine.  Internally, 
the  state  was  agitated  by  constant  commotions  from  the 
claims  of  various  pretenders  to  the  sovereignty :  exter- 
nally, it  was  kept  in  continual  alarm  by  the  Egyptians, 
Aral)ians,  or  Romans.  During  the  sixty  years'''  which 
elapsed,  between  the  return  of  Demetrius  to  his  king- 


'  Justin,  Porphyry,  Jo<ephus,  and  i      *  Joseph.  Anf.  Jiid  xiii.  0. 
Orosius    say    that    he    was    slain  ;  |      "  Cilicia  was    lost  b.c.  1(i2.     The 
Appian    (Syrinc.    p.     lo2,    B)    and    towns    on    the   coast,  Tjnc.   Sidon, 
J'jliaii  {Hist.  An.  x.  34)  declare  that    Seleucia,  <S:c.,    al)0ut  the  same  time 
hL- killed  himself.  assumed  independence. 

-  Porphyr.    ap.     Euseb.      Chron.        '  The   exact   time  was  sixty-three 
Can.  xl.  18.  years,  from    the  spring  of  B.C.  128 

^  Justin,  1.  s.  c.  !  to  B.C.  05. 

*  Diod.  Sic.  xxxiv.  17,  §  1.  1 


106  THE    SIXTH    JIONAKCIIY.  [CH.  VIL 

dom  and  the  conversion  of  Syria  into  a  Roman  pro- 
vince, slie  ceased  wholly  to  be  formidable  to  her 
neighbours.  Her  flourishing  period  was  gone  by,  and 
a  rapid  decline  set  in,  from  which  there  was  no  no  re- 
covery. It  is  surprising  that  the  Romans  did  not  step 
in  earlier  and  terminate  a  I'ule  which  was  but  a  little 
removed  from  anarchy.  Rome,  however,  had  other 
work  on  lier  hands ;  and  the  Syrian  kingdom  contiued 
to  exist  till  B.C.  65,  though  in  a  feeble  and  moribund 
condition. 

But  Phraates  could  not,  without  prophetic  fore- 
sight, have  counted  on  such  utter  prostration  following 
as  the  result  of  a  single — albeit  a  terrible — blow.  Ac- 
cordingly, we  find  him  still  exhil)iting  a  dread  of  the 
Seleucid  power  even  after  his  great  victory.  He  had 
released  Demetrius  too  late  to  obtain  any  benefit  from 
the  hostile  feeling  which  that  prince  probably  enter- 
tained towards  his  brother.  Had  he  not  released  him 
too  soon  for  his  own  safety  ?  Was  it  not  to  be  feared 
that  the  Syrians  might  rally  under  one  who  was  their 
natural  leader,  might  rapidly  recover  their  strength, 
and  renew  the  struggle  for  the  mastery  of  AYestern 
Asia  ?  The  first  thought  of  the  dissatisfied  monarch 
was  to  hinder  the  execution  of  his  own  project.  Deme- 
trius was  on  his  way  to  Syria,  but  had  not  yet  arrived 
there,  or,  at  any  rate,  his  ai'i'ival  had  not  been  as  yet 
reported.  Was  it  not  possible  to  intercept  him  ?  The 
Parthian  king  hastily  sent  out  a  T)ody  of  horse,  with 
orders  to  pui'sue  the  Syi'ian  prince  at  their  best  speed, 
and  endeavour  to  capture  him  befoi-e  he  passed  the 
frontier.^  If  they  succeeded,  they  were  to  bring  him 
back  to  their  master,  Avho  would  probably  have  then 


'  Justin,  xxxviii.  10,  §  11. 


CH. 


vil]  conduct  of  piiraates  after  irrs  victory.  107 


committed  his  prisoner  to  close  custody.  The  j^ursuit, 
however,  failed.  Demetrius  had  anticipated,  or  at 
least  feared,  a  change  of  purpose,  and,  having  prose- 
cuted his  journey  with  the  greatest  diligence,  had 
reached  his  own  territory  before  the  emissaries  of 
Phraates  could  overtake  him.* 

It  is  uncertain  whether  policy  or  inclination  dic- 
tated the  step  which  Phraates  soon  afterwards  took  of 
allying  himself  by  marriage  with  the  Selucidse.  He 
had  foi'mally  given  his  sister,  Phodogune,  as  a  wife  to 
Demetrius,^  and  the  marriage  had  been  fruitful,  Rhodo- 
o'une  havino;  borne  Deiuetrius  several  children.^  The 
two  houses  of  the  Seleucidas  and  Arsacidse  were  thus 
already  allied  to  some  extent.  Phraates  resolved  to 
streno-then  the  bond.  The  unmarried  dausfhter  of 
Demetrius  whom  he  had  captured  after  his  victory  over 
Antiochus  took  his  fancy ;  and  he  determined  to  make 
iier  his  wife.^  At  the  same  time  he  adopted  other 
measures  calculated  to  conciliate  the  Seleucid  prince. 
He  treated  his  captive,  Seleucus,  the  son  of  Antiochus, 
with  the  greatest  res[)ect.^  To  the  corpse  of  Antiochus 
he  paid  royal  honours ;  ^  and,  having  placed  it  in  a 
silver  coffin,  he  transmitted  it  to  the  Syrians  for 
sepulture.'^ 

Still,  if  we  may  believe  Justin,^  he  entertained  the 
design  of  carrying  his  arms  across  the  Euphrates  and 
invading  Syria,  in  order  to  avenge  the  attack  of  x\ntio- 


'  Justin,  1.  s.  c. 

•  See  above,  p.  96. 

'  Justin,  xxxviii.  9,  §  8. 

*  Ibid,  xxxviii.  10,  §  10. 

'  Porphyr.  ap.  Euseb.  Chron. 
Can.  i.  40,  §  18.  '  Seleucum  Ar- 
saces  captivum  abduxit,  regioque 
more  custodiendum  curavit.' 


'  Justin,  1.  s.  c.  '  Exscquias  regio 
more  iccii.^  '  Ibid,  xxxix.  1,  §6. 

«  Ibid.  xlii.  1,  §  1.  The  state- 
ment is  confirmed  by  Diodorus 
(xxxiv.  18),  who  says  that  Phraates 
expected  to  make  himself  master  of 
Syria  with  ease  {kX-H^uv  -^"-i'-- 
avTrjs  KvpiEvaeiu). 


f)a6iui 


108  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY,  [ciT.  VIF. 

clins  upon  Lis  territories.  But  events  occurred  which 
forced  him  to  relinijuish  this  enterprise.  The  Scythians, 
whom  he  had  called  to  his  aid  under  the  pi'essnre  of  the 
Syrian  invasion,  and  who  had  arrived  too  late  to  take 
part  in  tlie  war,  demanded  the  pay  which  they  had 
been  promised,  and  suggested  that  their  ai'ms  should 
be  employed  against  some  other  enemy.^  Phi'aates 
w^as  unwilling  either  to  requite  services  not  rendered, 
or  to  ]"ush"  needlessly  into  a  fresh  war  merely  to  gratify 
the  avarice  of  his  auxiliaries.  He  tlierefore  peremp- 
torily refused  to  comply  with  either  suggestion.  Upon 
this,  the  Scythians  determined  to  take  their  payment 
into  their  own  hands,  and  beof'^in  to  ravai2:e  Parthia  and 
to  cnriy  off  a  rich  booty.  Plii"aates,  who  had  removed 
the  head-quarters  of  his  government  to  Ba1>ylonia,  felt 
it  necessary  to  entrust  affairs  there  to  an  officer,  and  to 
take  the  field  in  person  against  this  new  enemy,  which 
w^as  certainly  not  less  formidable  than  the  Syrians.  He 
selected  for  his  representative  at  the  seat  of  Enquire  a 
certain  Ilimerus^  (or  Evemerus),^  a  youth  with  whom 
he  had  a  disgraceful  connection,  and  having  established 
him  as  a  sort  of  viceroy,^  marched  away  to  the  north- 
east, and  proceeded  to  encounter  the  Scythians  in.  that 
renfote  region.  Besides  his  native  troops,  he  took  with 
liim  a  nundjer  of  Greeks,  whom  he  had  made  prisoners 
in  liis  w^ar  with  Antiochus.^  Their  fidelity  could  not 
but  be  doubtful;  probal)ly,  howevei",  he  tliought  that 
at  a  distance  fi-om  Syria  they  would  not  dare  to  fail 
him,  and    that  with    an    enemy  so  barbarous    as  the 


'  Justin,  xlii.  1,  ?  2. 

■'   Ibi.l.  ?  3;  I'osidon.  Fr.  21. 

^  i)io(l.  Sic.  xxxiv.  21. 

*  Iliincrus  is  called   '  king  of  the 
Parthians  '     Vjy     Diddonis — an    ex- !  was  I'hraitus' /i/m/-/'/,'( 
pression    which    requires    cxplma-        ''  Justin,  x  ii    1,  §4. 


tion  rather  than  correction.  Posi- 
donius  speaks  of  him  as  i><ir  rvpnv- 
vf/nnfTa  Biiiii>?.<.)V!(,)f  (Fr.  21). 
According  to  Justin  (xlii.  2,  §  3),  he 


CH.    VII.]  DEATH    OF    PHRAATES.  109 

Scythians  tliey  would  have  no  temptation  to  fraternise. 
But  the  event  proved  him  mistaken.  'J  he  Greeks  were 
sullen  at  their  captivity,  and  exasperated  by  some  cruel 
treatment  which  they  had  received  when  first  captured. 
They  bided  their  time ;  and  when,  in  a  battle  with  the 
Scythians,  they  saw  the  Parthian  soldiery  hard  pressed 
and  in  danger  of  defeat,  they  decided  matters  by  going 
over  in  a  body  to  the  enemy.  The  Pai-thian  army  was 
completely  routed  and  destroyed,  and  Phraates  himself 
was  among  the  slain.^  We  are  not  told  what  became  of 
the  victoi'ious  Greeks ;  but  it  is  to  be  presumed  that, 
like  the  'ien  Thousand,  they  fought  their  way  across 
Asia,  and  rejoined  their  own  countrymen. 

Thus  died  Phraates  II.,  after  a  reigrn  of  about  eis^ht 
or  nine  years.^  Though  not  possessing  the  talents  of 
his  fatlier,  he  was  a  brave  and  warlike  prince,  active, 
enterprising,  fei-tile  in  resources,  and  bent  on  maintain- 
ing against  all  assailants  the  honour  and  integrity  of  the 
Empire.  In  natural  temperament  he  "was  probal)ly 
at  once  soft '^  and  cruel.''  But,  when  polic}'  required  it, 
he  could  throw  his  softness  aside  and  show  himself  a 
hardy  and  intrepid  warrior.'^  Similarly,  he  could  con- 
trol his  natural  harshness,  and  act  upon  occasion  Avith 
clemency  and  leniency.^     He  was  not,  perhaps,  without 


Ihid.  §  5.  I  rum    superbc    cruileliterque    tracta- 


"  The  accession  of  Pliraates  II. 
is  fixed  by  various  considerations 
to  about  the  year  b.c.  136.  His 
death  must  have  taken  place  in 
B.C.  128  or  B  c.  Xil. 

^  Indication-;  of  this  are  his  rela- 
tions with  ilimeru-i  (■<ii/>r'i,  p.  lOS), 
and  the  rani  iitv  with  which  he  fell 


verat,'  Justin,  xli'.  1,  §  4;  2,  ia 
his  feelings  towards  ihe  people  of 
Seleucia  (a'/.'/MTpui  npoS  Se/ei'KfZS 
(haKei/xi  vo?  ko:  fiv  t}  a  ina  ku  v  ,  Diod. 
Sic.  xxxiv.  19);  and  perhaps  3,  in 
his  appointment  <if  Himerus,  whose 
.sever  ties  he  Tnu<t  have  countenanced 
or  at  li-ast  permitied. 


in     love  wiih    Demetrius'    daughter!      '  Note      e^pecia  ly      his      winter 
(Justin,  xxxviii.  10,  §  lu).  campaign     against   Antiochus    (««- 

*  The  natural  cnieUy  of  Phraates  \pra,  p.  104). 
is  shown,   1,   in  his  treitment  f(  his  '      "  As   in  his    treatment  of  Deme- 
Greek  captives  ('  exercitura  Grieco- 1  trius  after   his  two   escapes,  in  his 


110 


THE    SIXTH    MOISTARCHY. 


[CH. 


YII. 


a  grim  humour,  wliicli  led  him  to  threaten  more  than 
he  intended,  in  order  to  see  how  men  woahl  comport 
themselves  when  greatly  alarmed.^  There  is  some  evi- 
dence that  he  aimed  at  saying  good  things;  though  it 
must  be  confessed  that  the  wit  is  not  of  a  high  order.^ 
Altogether,  he  has  moi'e  character  than  most  Oriental 
monarchs ;  and  the  monotony  of  Arsacid  biography  is 
agreealjly  interrupted  by  the  idiosyncrasy  which  his 
words  and  conduct  indicate. 


conduct  towards  Seleucus,  Antio- 
chus'  son,  and  (in  a  less  degree) 
in  his  treatment  of  J^ntiochus' 
body. 

'  This  is  the  impression  raised  by 
the  story  which  Diodorus  tells  about 
the  Seleucenses.  'The  Seleucenses,' 
he  says,  '  understanding  that  Arsaces 
was  angry  with  them,  sent  am- 
bassadors to  deprecate  his  wrath, 
and  bade  them  be  sure  to  bring  back 
an  answer  from  the  king.  So 
Arsaces  took  the  ambassadors  to  (ho 
place  where  Pitthides,  a  man  whose 
eyes  had  been  put  out,  was  wont  to 
sit,  and  said— "Tell  the  men  of 
Seleucia   that  they   all   deserve  the 


fate  of  Pitthides  !  "  '  As  it  does  not 
appear  that  Phraates  took  any  steps 
to  carry  out  his  threat,  it  can 
scarcely  have  been  serious. 

-  Besides  the  above  story,  there 
is  an  anecdote  of  Phraates  told  by 
Posidonius,  which  tleserves  to  be 
noticed.  '  When  Antiochus,  who 
made  war  upon  Arsaces,'  he  says, 
'  was  dead,  and  the  latter  was  occu- 
pying himself  about  his  funeral,  ho 
exclaimed,  "  Oh,  Antiochus,  thy 
rashness  and  thy  intemperance  were 
thy  ruin;  in  thy  mighty  cups  thf>u 
thoughtest  to  swallow  down  the 
kingdom  of  the  Arsacidae  !  "  '  (Po- 
sid,Fr.  20.) 


CH.  VUI.]  ACCESSION    OF   ARTABANUS   U.  lH 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Accession  of  Artnhnrnis  II.  Position  of  Parthia.  Growing  pressure  upoji 
her,  and  general  advance  toicards  the  south,  of  the  Saka  or  Scyths.  Causes 
and  extent  of  the  movement.  Character  and  pj'incipal  tribes  of  the  Saka. 
Scythic  tear  of  Artalanus.     His  death. 

'Imperiuiii  Asiie  [Scythoe]  ter  quaesivere.' — Justin,  ii.  3,  §1. 

The  successor  of  Pbraates  was  his  uncle,  Artahanus,^  a 
son  of  Priapatius.  It  is  probable  that  the  late  king 
Lad  either  left  no  son,  or  none  of  sufficient  age  to  be  a 
fit  occupant  of  the  throne  at  a  season  of  difficulty. 
The  '  Megistanes,  thei'efore,  elected  Artabanus  in  his 
nephew's  place,^  a  man  of  mature  age,^  and,  probably, 
of  some  experience  in  war.  The  situation  of  Parthia, 
despite  her  recent  triumph  over  the  Syro-Macedo- 
nians,  was  critical ;  and  it  was  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance that  the  sceptre  should  be  committed  to  one 
who  would  bring  to  the  discharge  of  his  office  those 
qualities  of  \\dsdom,  promptness,  and  vigour,  which  a 
crisis  demands. 

The  difficulty  of  the  situation  was  two-fold.  In  the 
first  place,  there  was  an  immediate  danger  to  be 
escaped.  The  combined  Greeks  and  Scythians,  who 
had  defeated  the  Parthian  army  and  slain  the  monarch, 
might  have  been  expected  to  push  their  advantage  to 


'  Justin,  xlii.  2,  §  1.  I  been  the  regular  course  of  procedure. 

^  Justin's     phrase      ('  In     hujus    (See  abovo,  p.  85.) 
locum  Artabanus.  jiatruus  ejus,  rex  -      "  As  Prinpatius   died  in  or  about 
Hiihxtitiiittir  ■)  implies  their  election,    B.C.  181.  .Artabanus  could  not  in  B.C. 
which,   besidis,    vro  know   to  hnve  i  127  be  less  than  54  years  of  age. 


112  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.   Vi:i. 

tlie  utmost,  and  seek  to  establish  themselves  as  con- 
querors in  the  country  which  lay  apparently  at  their 
mercy.  At  any  rate,  the  siege  and  sack  of  some  of  the 
chief  towns  was  a  probable  contingency,  if  j^ermanent 
occupation  of  the  territory  did  not  suit  the  views  of  the 
confederates.  The  new  monarch  had  to  rid  Parthia  of 
her  invaders  at  as  little  cost  as  possible,  before  he 
could  allow  himself  to  turn  his  attention  to  any  other 
matter  whatsoever.  Nor  did  this,  under  the  circum- 
stances, ap])ear  to  be  an  easy  task.  The  llo-sv^er  of  the 
Parthian  troops  had  been  destroyed  in  the  late  battle, 
and  it  Avas  not  easy  to  I'eplace  them  by  another  native 
array.  The  subject-nations  were  at  no  time  to  be  de- 
pended upon  wdien  Parthia  was  reduced  to  straits,  and 
at  the  pi'esent  conjuncture  some  of  the  most  impoi'tant 
were  in  a  condition  bordering  upon  rebellion.  Himerus, 
the  viceroy  left  by  Phraates  in  Babylonia,  had  first 
driven  the  Bal)ylonians  and  Seleucians  to  desperation 
by  his  tyranny,^  and  then  plunged  into  a  war  with  the 
people  of  Mesene,^  which  must  have  made  it  diliicult 
for  hira  to  send  Artabanus  any  contingent.  Fortu- 
nately for  the  Parthians,  the  folly,  or  moderation,  of 
their  enemies  rendered  any  great  effort  on  their  part 
unnecessary.  The  Greeks,  content  with  having  i"e- 
venged  themselves,  gave  the   ne^v  monarch  no  trouble 


*  The  t3'ranny  of  this  jrovernor  I  to  slnvorv,  and  sent  them  with  iheir 
is  witnessed  to  in  a  general  way  by  i  families  into  Media  to  be  publicly 
Ju'^tin  (xlii.  1,  §  o),  and  Posidoniiis  sold.  lie  burnt  the  market-place 
(Fr.  21).  Some  particulars  o(  it  are  '  of  Babylon,  and  several  of  (he 
given  by  Diodorus.  '  Rvemerus,'  temples,  destroying  at  the  same 
lie  says,  'the  Parthian  king,  was  a  time  the  finest  portion  of  the  city.' 
Hyrcanian  by  race,  and  exceeded  in  !  '^  Trog.  Pomp.  Prolog,  lib.  xlii. 
cruelty  all  other  tyrants  on  record.  |  '  Ut  pnefoctus  Paithis  a  l^hraute 
There  was  no  form  of  punishment  Mcsenis  bellum  intulit.'  MesC-nc 
which  he  otnittcd  to  use.  On  ac-  !  was  the  tract  between  Babylonia 
cusations  of  a  trivial  character  he  and  the  sea  ;  it  had  probably  not 
coi'demncd  many  of  the  liabyloniars  [  yet  been  made  subject  to  Parthia. 


en.    Till.]       DAXGEK  TO  PARTHIA  FROM  THE  SOYTHS.       113 

at  all :  the  Scythians  were  satisfied  with  plundering 
and  wasting  the  open  country,  after  which  tliey  re- 
turned quietly  to  their  homes.^  Artabanus  found  him- 
self quit  of  the  immediate  danger  which  had  tlireatened 
him  almost  without  exertion  of  his  own,  and  could  now 
bend  his  thoughts  to  the  position  of  his  country  gen- 
eral]}^, and  the  proper  policy  to  pursue  under  the 
circumstances. 

For  there  was  a  second  and  more  formidable  dancfer 
impending  over  the  State — a  danger  not  casual  and 
temporary  like  the  one  just  escaped,  but  arising  out  of 
a  condition  of  thing's  in  neifrhbourins;  reo^ions  which 
had  come  about  slowly,  and  which  promised  to  be 
permanent.  To  give  the  reader  the  means  of  esti- 
mating this  danger  aright,  it  will  be  necessary  to  take 
a  somewhat  wide  view  of  the  state  of  affairs  on  the 
northern  and  north-eastern  frontiers  of  Parthia  for 
some  time  previously  to  the  accession  of  Artabanus,  to 
trace  out  the  causes  which  were  at  work,  producing 
important  changes  in  these  regions,  and  to  indicate  the 
results  which  threatened,  and  those  which  were  accom- 
plished. The  opportunity  will  also  serve  for  giving 
such  an  account  of  the  chief  races  which  here  bordered 
the  empire,  as  will  show  the  nature  of  the  peril  to 
which  Parthia  was  exposed  at  this  period. 

In  the  wide  plains  of  Northern  Asia,  extending  from 
the  Arctic  Ocean  to  the  Thian  Chan  mountains  and 
the  Jaxartes,  there  had  been  nurtured  from  a  remote 
antiquity  a  nomadic  population,  at  no  time  very 
numerous  in  proportion  to  the  area  over  which  it  was 
spread,  but  liable  on  occasions  to  accumulate,  owing 
to  a    combination    of  circumstances,  in    this  or   that 


'  Justin,    xlii.    2,  §   1.     '  Scj'thae    lata  Parthia,   in   patriam   revertuu- 
autem    contenti    victoria,     depopu- 1  tur.' 


114  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  VIII. 

portion  of  the  region  occupied,  nncl  at  such  times 
causing  ti'ouble  to  its  neighbours.  From  about  tlie 
close  of  the  third  century  b.c,  symptoms  of  sucli  an 
accumulation  had  begun  to  display  themselves  in  the 
tract  immediately  north  of  the  Jaxartes,  and  the  in- 
hal)itants  of  the  countries  south  of  that  river  had  suf- 
fered from  a  succession  of  raids  and  inroads,  which 
were  not  regarded  as  dangei'ous,  Init  which  gave 
constant  annoyance.  Crossing  the  great  desert  of 
Kharesm  by  forced  marches,  some  of  the  hordes  in- 
vaded the  green  valleys  of  Hyrcania  and  Parthia,  and 
carried  desolation  over  those  fair  and  flourishing  dis- 
tricts.'' About  the  same  time  other  tril)es  entered 
the  Bactrian  territory  and  caused  alarm  to  the  (xreek 
kingdom  recently  established  in  that  pi'ovince.^  It 
appears  that  the  Parthian  monarchs,  unable  to  save 
their  country  from  incursions,  consented  to  pay  a  sort 
of  black-mail  to  their  invaders,  by  allowing  them  the 
use  of  their  pasture  grounds  at  certain  fixed  times — 
probably  during  some  months  of  each  year.^  The 
Bactrian  princes  had  to  pay  a  heavier  penalty.  Pro- 
vince after  province  of  their  kingdom  was  swallowed 
up  by  the  northern  hordes,^  who  gradually  occupied 
Sogdiana,  or  the  tract  be  ween  the  lower  Jaxartes  and 
the  lower  Oxus,  whence  they  ])roceeded  to  make 
inroads  into  Bactria  itself.   The  rich  land  on  the  Poly- 


'   Strab.  xi.  8,  §  3.  I  riai  jpr?x'Oif   tt/u  ;^;wpnv  KaTarpexnv  Kal 

"  That    the   pressure    of  the  no-\<Pfp'''^'^<'t^einv.     I  understand  this  as 

madic  horde-;  on  Bactria  1)ej:;an  as  ( a    pasture    ri<iht    similar    to    tliat 

early    as    the  reifjn  of  P'uth\  denius    claimed  by  the  Sainnitcs  iti  Campania 


(li.c.  220-200).  appears  from  liis 
reprcscntiitions  to  Antiochus  (Po- 
lyb.  xi.  ;U,  S  5). 

°  Strab.     1.  s.'C      O'l    di   avvtOevTo 


(Arnold,  llht.  of  livme,  vol.  ii.  p. 
108),  only  cnjo3'ed  at  a  different 
time  of  the  year. 

*  Strab.    xi.   8,  §  2  and  §  4  ;  Trog. 


itiopovi-  <pnj)oi  6'  iv  Td  inir/'inen'  toktoH    Pomp.  Prol.  lib.  xli. 


CII.    VIII.]  GREAT    MIGRATION    OF    THE    YUE-CIII.  115 

timetus,  or  Ak  Sn,  the  river  of  Samarkand,  and  even  tlie 
highlands  between  the  upper  Jaxartes  and  upper  Uxiis, 
were  permanently  occupied  by  the  invaders  ;  and  if  the 
Bactrians  had  not  compensated  themselves  for  their 
losses  by  acquisitions  of  territory  in  Affghanistan  and 
India,  they  would  soon  have  had  no  kingdom  left. 
The  hordes  were  always  increasing  in  strength  through 
the  influx  of  fresh  immigrants,  and  in  lieu  of  Bactria 
a  power  now  stood  ari-ayed  on  the  north-eastern  fron- 
tier of  the  Parthians,  which  was  reasonably  regarded 
with  the  most  serious  alarm  and  suspicion. 

The  origin  of  the  state  of  things  here  described  is  to 
be  sought,  according  to  the  best  authorities,  in  certain 
movements  which  took  place  about  e.g.  200,*  in  a 
remote  region  of  inner  Asia.  At  that  time  a  Turanian 
people  called  the  Yue-chi  were  expelled  from  their  terri- 
tory on  the  west  of  Chen-si  by  the  Hiong-nu,  whom 
some  identify  with  the  Huns.  '  The  Yue-chi  separated 
into  two  bands:  the  smaller  descended  southwards 
into  Thibet ;  the  larger  passed  westwards,  and  after 
a  hard  struggle  dis])ossessed  a  people  called  "  Su  "  of 
the  plains  .west  ol'  the  river  of  Hi.  These  latter 
advanced  to  Ferghana  and  the  Jaxartes;  and  the 
Yue-chi  not  long  afterwards  retreating  from  the  U-siun, 
another  nomadic  race,  passed  the  "  Su  "  on  the  north 
and  occupied  the  tracts  between  the  Oxus  and  the 
Caspian.  The  Su  were  thus  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Bactrian  Greeks;  the  Yue-chi  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  Parthians.'^     On  the  particulars  of  this  account, 


*  This  is  the  date   given.      (See  'p.  114,  note  2),  which  were  spoken 
Wilson,    Ai'iana  Ant.    p.    303.)     It   b.c.  205,    that   the  movement  com- 
does    not  pretend  to  exactness ;  and    menced      seven      or      eigiit      years 
we   may  perhaps  conclude  from  the    earlier, 
words   of    Euthydemus    (see   above,  |      '■'   Wilson,  1.  s.  c. 


116 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH. 


TIIL 


which  comes  from  the  Chinese  historians,  we  cannot 
perhaps  altogether  depend  ;  but  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  the  main  fact,  attested  by  a  writer  who  visited 
the  Yue-chi  in  b.c.  139,^  that  they  had  migrated 
about  the  period  mentioned  from  the  interior  of  Asia, 
and  had  estal)lished  themselves  sixty  years  later  in  the 
Caspian  region.  Such  a  movement  would  necessarily 
have  thrown  the  entire  previous  population  of  those 
parts  into  commotion,  and  would  probably  have  pre- 
cipitated them  upon  their  neighbours.  It  accounts 
satisfactorily  for  the  pressure  of  the  northern  hordes 
at  this  period  on  the  Parthians,  Bactrians,  and  even 
the  Indians;  and  it  completely  explains  the  crisis  in 
Parthian  history,  which  we  have  now  readied,  and  the 
necessity  which  lay  upon  the  nation  of  meeting,  and, 
if  possible,  overcoming,  an  entirely  new  danger. 

In  fact,  one  of  those  occasions  of  peril  had  arisen, 
to  which  in  ancient  times  the  civilised  woild  was 
always  liable  from  an  outburst  of  northern  barbarism. 
Whether  the  peril  has  altogether  passed  away  or  not, 
we  need  not  here  inquire  ;  but  certainly  in  the  old 
world  there  was  always  a  chance  that  civilisation,  art, 
refinement,  luxury,  might  suddenly  and  almost  without 
warning  be  swept  away  by  an  overwhelming  influx  of 
savage  hordes  from  the  unpolished  Noi-th.  From  the 
reign  of  Cyaxares,  when  the  evil  first  showed  itself,^  the 


'  The  Chinese  authority  for  the 
history  of  this  migration  is  a  certain 
Chang-kian,  who  was  sent  on  a 
mission  from  China  to  the  YiU'cIii 
in  H.c.  1')!),  and  returned  to  his  native 
country  in  n.c.  ]2^^. 

'  The  great  Scythian  invasion 
in  the  reign  of  Cyaxares  (ah 
B.C.  G30)  is  a  well-atte-ted  fact  of 
lliist'trj.      (See  Herod,   i.   103-5  ;  iv. 


1;  Strab.  i.  .3,  §  21  ;  xi.  8,  §  4 ; 
Euseb.  Ghron.  (Jan.  ii.  p.  227 ; 
Oros.  i.  19;  Syncell.  p.  214,  C; 
&c.)  It  is  the  first  invasion  of  the 
i<ind  that  can  be  regarded  as  certain, 
Justin's  story  oraScythic  conquest 
of  Asia  in  tlie  time  of  Sesostris 
(ii.  3,  §  15-;  of.  Strab.  xv.  1,  §  C) 
being  probably  apocryphal. 


CH.  viil]       conquests  made  by  the  scyths.  117 

danger  was  patent  to  all  wise  and  far-seeing  governors 
both  in  Europe  and  Asia,  and  was  from  time  to  time 
guarded  against.  The  expeditions  of  Cyrus  against  the 
Massagetse,  of  Darius  Hystaspis  against  the  European 
Scyths,  of  Alexander  against  the  Getse,  of  Trajan  and 
Pi'ol)us  across  the  Danube,  were  designed  to  check  and 
intimidate  the  northern  nations,  to  break  their  power, 
and  diminish  the  likelihood  of  their  taking  the  offensive. 
It  was  now  more  than  four  centuries  since  in  this  part  of 
Asia  any  such  effort  had  been  made ;  *  and  the  northern 
barl>arians  miglit  naturally  have  ceased  to  fear  the  arms 
and  discipline  of  the  South.  Moreover  the  circum- 
stances of  the  time  scarcely  left  them  a  choice.  Pressed 
on  continually  more  and  more  l)y  the  newly-arrived 
Su  and  Yue-chi,  the  old  inhal)itants  of  the  Ti-ansoxi- 
anian  regions  were  under  the  necessity  of  seeking  new 
settlements,  and  could  only  attempt  to  find  them  in 
the  quarter,  towards  which  they  were  driven  by  the 
new-comers.  Strengthened,  probably,  by  daring  spirits 
from  among  their  conquerors  themselves,^  they  crossed 
the  rivers  and  the  deserts  by  which  they  had  been 
hitherto  confined,  and  advancing  against  the  Parthians, 
Bactrians,  and  Arians,  threatened  to  carry  all  before 
them.  We  have  seen  how  successful  they  were  against 
the  Bactrians.^  In  Ariana,  they  passed  the  mountains, 
and,  proceeding  southwards,  occupied  the  tract  below 
the  great  lake  wherein  the  Helmend  terminates,  which 
took  from  them  the  name  of  Sacastane  *  ('  laud  of  the 


'  The   attack  made   by  Cyrus  on  '  led  by  individuals  of  the  race  that 


the   Massagetae  belongs    to  the  year 
B.C.  559. 

^  The    Chinese    regard  the    con- 
quests as  made  by  the  Su  and  the 

Yue-chi.     In  niigrntor}'  movements,  i  bably  to  the  .\ugii.stan  age. 
the   expelled   people  are  constantly 


has  expelled  them. 

'  See  above,  p.  1 15. 

'  This  name  is  first  found  in  Isi- 
dore  of   Charax,   who  belongs  pro- 


118 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[cH.  vni. 


Saka,'  or  Scyths) — a  name  still  to  he  traced  in  the 
modern  '  Seistan.'  Further  to  the  east,  they  effected  a 
lodgment  in  Kabul,  and  another  in  the  southern  portion 
of  the  Indus  valley,  which  for  a  time  bore  the  name  of 
Indo-Scythia.-^  They  even  crossed  the  Indus  and  at- 
tempted to  penetrate  into  the  intei'ior  of  India,  but 
here  they  were  met  and  repulsed  by  a  native  monarch, 
about  the  year  e.c.  56.^ 

The  people  engaged  in  this  great  movement  are 
called,  in  a  general  way,  by  the  classical  writers,  Sacae, 
or  Scythse — i.e.  Scyths.  They  consisted  of  a  number 
of  tribes,  similar  for  the  most  part  in  language,  habits, 
and  mode  of  life,  and  allied  more  or  less  closely  to  the 
other  nomadic  races  of  Central  and  Northern  Asia. 
Of  these  tribes  the  principal  were  the  Massagetae 
C  great  Jits,  or  Jats '),  who  occupied  the  country  on  both 
sides  of  the  lower  course  of  the  Oxus  ;  ^  the  Dahae,  who 
bordered  the  Caspian  above  Hyrcauia,  and  extended 
thence  to  the  latitude  of  Herat ;  ^  the  Tochari,^  who 
settled  in  the  mountains  between  the  upper  Jaxartes 
and  the  upper  Oxus,  where  they  gave  name  to  the 
tract  known  as  Tokharestan ;  the  Asii,  or  Asiani,  who 
were  closely  connected  with  the  Tochari ;  •"'  and  the 
Sakarauli  (Saracuca}?),  who  are  found  connected  with 
both  the  Tochari  and  the  Asiani."  kSonie  of  these  tribes 
contained  within  them  further  sub-divisions;  e.g.  the 
Dahie,  who  comprised  the  Parni  (or  Aparni),  the  Pissuri, 
and  the  Xanthii;^  and  the  Massaget;io,  who  included 
among  them  Chorasmii,  Attasil,  and  (Hhers.'' 


'  Wilson,  Ariana  Antiqua,  pp. 
.302,  305.  347,  &c. 

''  Il)id.  p.  302. 

^  Sirab.  xi.  8,  §  8. 

*  Ibid.  §  2. 

'  See  Trog.  Pomp.  Prol.  lib.  xlii.  ; 
Justin,  xlii.  2,  §  2 ;  Strab.  1.  s.  c.  ; 
Di^ny^.  Pericg.  752. 


°  Trogus  said  (hat  the  Asiani 
at  one  time  furnished  kings  to 
the  Tochari.  (Prol.  lib.  xlii.  ad 
Jin.) 

'  Strab.  1.  s.  c.  ;  Trog.  Pomp.  Prol. 
lib.  xli. 

'  Str.ib.  1.  s   c. 

»  Il)id.  xi.  8,  §  8. 


CH.  VIII.]       CITAKACTER  OF  THE  SCYTHIC  BARBAKISM.       119 

The  general  character  of  the  barbarism,  in  which 
these  various  races  were  involved,  may  be  best  learnt 
from  the  description  given  of  one  of  them,the  Massagetje, 
with  but  few  differences,  by  Herodotus  ^  and  Strabo.* 
According  to  this  description,  the  Massagetse  were 
nomads,  who  moved  about  in  wagons  or  carts,  accom- 
panied by  their  flocks  and  herds,  on  whose  milk  they 
chiefly  sustained  themselves.  Each  man  had  only  one 
wife,  but  all  the  wives  were  held  in  common.  They 
were  good  riders  and  excellent  archers,  but  fought  both 
on  horseback  and  on  foot^and  used,  besides  their  bows 
and  ai-rows,  lances,  knives,  and  battle-axes.  They  had 
little  or  no  iron,  but  made  their  spear  and  arrow-heads, 
and  their  other  weapons,  of  bronze.  They  had  also 
bronze  breast-plates ;  but  otherwise  the  metal  witli 
which  they  adorned  and  protected  their  own  persons, 
and  the  heads  of  their  horses,  was  gold.  To  a  certain, 
extent  they  were  cannibals.^  It  was  their  custom  not 
to  let  the  aged  among  them  die  a  natural  death,  but, 
when  life  seemed  approaching  its  natural  term,  to  offer 
them  up  in  sacrifice,  and  then  boil  the  flesh  and  feast 
on  it.  This  mode  of  endius:  life  was  refijarded  as  the 
best  and  most  honourable  ;  such  as  died  of  disease  were 
not  eaten  but  buried,  and  their  friends  bewailed  their 
misfortune. 

It  may  be  added  to  this,  that  we  have  sufficient 
reason  to  believe  that  the  Massagetse  and  the  other 
nomads  of  these  parts  regarded  the  use  of  poisoned 
arroAvs  as  legitimate  in  warfare,  and  employed  the 
venom    of    serpents,    and     the    corrupted     blood    of 


'  Herod,  i.  215,  216.  i  from    Pliny,    who  notes    the    same 

""  Strab.  xi.  8,  §6.  feature    in     the  Tochari    (-Tochari 


*  That  the  Massagetae  were  not 
the  only  ciiinibals  :imong  the  no- 
madic hordes  of  these  parts,  appears 


humanis  corporibus  vescuntur.' 
II.  K.  vi.  17). 


120  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    VIII. 

man,  to  make  the  wouuds  wliicli  they  inflicted  more 
deadly/ 

Thus,  what  was  threatened  was  not  merely  the  eon^ 
quest  of  one  race  by  another  cognate  to  it,  like  that  of 
the  Medes  by  the  Persians,  or  of  the  Greeks  l)y  Kome, 
but  the  obliteration  of  such  art,  civilization,  and  refine- 
ment as  Western  Asia  had  attained  to  in  course  of  as-es 

o 

by  the  successive  efforts  of  Babylonians,  Assyrians, 
Medes,  Persians,  and  Greeks — the  spread  over  some  of 
the  fairest  regions  of  the  earth  of  a  low  type  of  savagery 
— a  type  which  in  religion  went  no  further  than  the 
worship  of  the  sun  f  in  art  knew  but  the  easier  forms 
of  metallurgy  and  the  construction  of  carts ;  in  man- 
ners and  customs,  included  cannibalism,  the  use  of 
poisoned  weapons,  and  a  relation  between  the  sexes 
destructive  alike  of  all  delicacy  and  of  all  family  affec- 
tion. The  Parthians  were,  no  doul)t,  rude  and  coarse 
in  their  character  as  compared  "with  the  Persians;  but 
they  had  been  civilized  to  a  cei'tain  extent  by  three 
centuries  of  subjection  to  the  Persians  and  the  Greco- 
Macedonians  l)efore  they  rose  to  power;  they  affected 
Persian  manners;  they  patronized  Greek  art,  they 
appreciated  the  advantages  of  having  in  their  midst  a 
number  of  Greek  states.  Had  tlie  Massau^et;^  and  their 
kindred  triljes  of  Sakas,  Tochari,  Dalue,  Yue-clii,  and 
Su,  which  now  menaced  the  Parthian  power,  succeeded 
in  sweeping  it  away,  the  general  declension  of  all  which 
is  lovely  or  excellent  in  human  life  would  have  l)een 
marked.  Scythicism  would  have  overspread  Western 
Asia.  No  doubt  the  con(pierors  would  have  learned 
something  from  those  whom  they  sul)jected  ;  but  it 
cannot  be  supposed  that  they  would  have  learned  nuich. 

'  See  Plin.  //.  N.  xi.  53.  [  v'nn^'  afpnvTni.      Strabo    repeats    the 

'  Herod,     i.    216.       OeCjv    /'/oOw))' I  .sta'ement  (1.  s.  c.) 


CII.  YIII.]         ARTABANUS  II.  ATTACKS  THE  TOCHARI.  121 

The  change  would  have  been  like  that  which  passed 
over  the  Empire  of  the  West,  when  Goths,  Vandals, 
Biirgundians,  Alans,  Heruli,  depopulated  its  fairest  pro- 
vinces and  laid  its  civilisation  in  the  dust.  The  East 
would  have  1)een  barbarised ;  the  gains  of  centuries 
would  have  been  lost ;  the  work  of  Cyrus,  Darius, 
Alexander,  and  other  great  benefactors  of  Asiatic 
humanity,  have  been  undone ;  AVestern  Asia  would 
have  sunk  back  into  a  condition  not  very  much  above 
that  from  which  it  was  raised  two  thousand  years  earlier 
by  the  primitive  Chaldteans  and  the  Assyrians. 

Artabanus  II.,  the  Parthian  monarch  who  succeeded 
Phraates  II.,  appears  to  have  appreciated  aright  the 
perils  of  his  position.  He  was  not  content,  when  the 
pai-ticular  body  of  barbarians  wdiicli  had  defeated  and 
slain  his  predecessor,  having  ravaged  Parthia  Proper, 
returned  home,  to  fold  his  arms  and  wait  until  lie  was 
again  attacked.  According  to  the  brief,  but  expressive 
Avords  of  Justin,^  he  assumed  the  aofcrressive,  and  in- 
vaded  the  country  of  the  Tochari,  one  of  the  most 
powerful  of  the  Scythic  tribes,  which  was  now  settled 
in  a  portion  of  the  region  that  had,  till  lately,  belonged 
to  the  Bactrian  kingdom.^  Artabanus  evidently  felt 
that  what  was  needed  Avas  to  roll  back  the  flood  of  in- 
vasion, which  had  advanced  so  near  to  the  sacred  home 
of  his  nation  ;  that  the  barbarians  required  to  be  taught 
a  lesson  ;  that  they  must  at  least  be  made  to  under- 
stand that  Parthia  was  to  he  respected  ;  or  that,  if  this 
•could  not  be  done,  the  fate  of  the  Empire  was  sealed. 
lie  therefore,  with  a  gallantry  and  boldness  that  ^ve 
cannot  sufficiently  admire — a  boldness  that  seemed  like 


■   '  Bello   Tocharis     illato ''     (Bist.  I      '  See  above,  p.  115. 
Phil  xlii.  2,  §  2).  ' 


122  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [cH.    YIII. 

rashness,  but  was  in  reality  prudence,  without  calculat- 
ing too  closely  the  immediate  chances  of  battle,  led  his 
troops  against  one  of  the  most  forward  of  the  advancing 
tribes.  But  fortune,  unhappily,  was  adverse.  How 
the  battle  was  progressing,  w^e  are  not  told;  but  it 
apjjears  that  in  the  thick  of  an  engagement,  Artabanus 
received  a  wound  in  the  fore-arm,  from  the  effects  of 
which  he  died  almost  immediatel}^^  The  death  of  the 
leader  decides  in  the  East,  almost  to  a  certainty,  the 
issue  of  a  contest.  We  cannot  doubt  that  the  Parthians, 
having  lost  their  monarch,  were  repulsed;  that  the 
expedition  failed ;  and  that  the  situation  of  affairs 
became  once  more  at  least  as  threatening  as  it  had  been 
before  Artabanus  made  his  attempt.  Two  Parthian 
monarchs  had  now  fjillen  within  the  space  of  a  few 
years  in  combat  witli  the  aggressive  Scyths — two  Par- 
thian armies  had  suffered  defeat.  Was  this  to  be 
always  so?  If  it  was,  then  Parthia  had  only  to  make 
up  her  mind  to  ftill,  and,  like  the  great  Roman,  to  let 
it  be  her  care  that  she  should  fall  grandly  and  with 
dignity. 

'   'In    brachio   vulneratus,  Htatim  '  painful    suspicion  that   the  weapon 
dccedit.'     (Justin,  1.  s.  c.)     The  m- ;  which    dealt   the   wound    had  been^ 
mediate   death   consequent   upon   a    poisoned.     (See  above,  p.  12U,  note 
wound     in  the  /ore-arm    raises    a    1.) 


CIL  IX.]  ACCESSIOX    OF    MITIIRIDATES    II.  123 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

Accession  of  MithrUlates  II.  Termination  of  the  Scythie  Wars.  Com- 
mencement of  the  struggle  with  Armenia.  Previous  history  of  Armenia, 
liesnlt  of  tlie  first  Armenian  War.  First  contact  of  Rame  trith  Parthin. 
Attitude  of  Pome  totcards  the  East  at  this  time.  Second  Armenian  War. 
Death  of  Mithridates. 

'  Mithridati  res  gcstte  Magni  cognomen  dedere.' — Justin,  xlii.  3,  §  3. 

On  the  death  of  Artabanus  II.,  about  e.g.  124,  his  son, 
Mithridates  IT.,  was  proclaimed  king.  Of  this  monarch, 
whose  achievements  (according  to  Justin^)  procured  liim 
the  epithet  of  Hhe  Great,'  the  accounts  which  have 
come  down  to  us  are  extremely  scanty  and  unsatis- 
factory. Justin,  who  is  our  principal  informant  on  the 
subject  of  the  early  Parthian  history,  has  unfortunately 
confounded  him  with  the  third  monarch  of  the  name," 
who  ascended  the  throne  more  than  sixty  years  later, 
and  has  left  us  only  the  slightest  and  most  meagre  out- 
line of  his  actions.  The  other  classical  writers,  only  to 
a  very  small  extent,  supplement  Justin's  narrative ;  and 
the  result  is  that  of  a  reign  which  was  one  of  the  most 
important  in  the  early  Parthian  series,  the  historical 
inquirer  at  the  present  day  can  form  but  a  most  incom- 
plete conception. 

It  appears,  however,  from  the  account  of  Justin,  and 
from  such  other  notices  as  have  reached  us  of  the  con- 


'  Sec  the  passage  quoted  at  the  pears  from  the  Prologue  to  book 
head  of  the  chapter.  Compare  xlii.,  where  \ve  are  told  that  he 
Trog.  Pomp.  Prol.  lili.  xlii.  placed  t^ereral    kings    between    Mi- 

-  Ju<tin,  xlii.    4,  §1.     That  Tro- ,  thridates  II.  and  Orodes. 
gus    did  not  make  the  mistake   ap- 


124  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [cil.    IX 

dition  of  things  at  this  time  in  the  regions  lying  east  of 
the  Caspian,  that  Mithridates  was  entirely  successful 
where  his  father  and  his  cousin  had  signally  failed.  He 
gained  a  number  of  victories  over  the  IScythic  hordes;^ 
and  effectually  checked  their  direct  progress  towards 
the  south,  throwing  them  thereby  upon  the  east  and  the 
south-east.  Danger  to  Parthia  from  the  Scyths  seems 
after  his  reign  to  have  passed  away.  They  found  a 
vent  for  their  superabundant  population  in  Seistan, 
Affghanistan,  and  India,  and  ceased  to  have  any  hopes 
of  making  an  imjiression  on  the  Arsacid  kingdom. 
Mithridates,  it  is  probable,  even  took  territory  from 
them.  The  acquisition  of  parts  of  Bactria  by  the 
Parthians /V6>w  the  Scyths^  which  is  attested  by  Strabo,^ 
belongs,  in  all  likelihood,  to  his  reign  ;  and  the  exten- 
sion of  the  Parthian  dominion  to  Seistan^  may  well 
date  from  the  same  period.  Justin  tells  us  that  he 
added  many  nations  to  the  Parthian  Empire.^  The 
statements  made  of  the  extent  of  Parthia  on  the  side 
of  Syria  in  the  time  of  Mithridates  the  First  render  it 
impossible  for  us  to  discover  these  nations  in  the  west : 
Ave  are,  therefore,  compelled  to  regard  them  as  consist- 
ing of  I'aces  on  the  eastern  frontier,  who  could  at  this 
period  only  be  outlying  tribes  of  the  recent  Scythic' 
immijj^ration. 

The  victories  of  Mithridates  in  the  East  encouraged 
him  to  turn  his  arms  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  to 
make  an  attack  on  the  important  country  of  Armenia, 
which  bonlercHl  his  north-western  fiontier.  Armenia 
Av^as  at  the  time  under  the  govei-nment  of  a  certain 


'  '  Cum  Scythis  prosper©  aliquo- 
ties  dimicavit,  ultorquc  injuriae 
parentutn  fuit.'  (Justin,  xlii.  2, 
§  5.) 


Tfj<i    BnKTpinviji    /jrpoi    [nl    UupOvaiot] 
(3  I  a  rr  ci  fi  e  V  o  I    t  ov  (;    'Z  kv6  a  i  . 
'  Isid.  Char.  Mnns.  Parth.  §  18. 
'  Miiltos  populos  Parthico  regno 


"  Strab.    xi.    9.    §   2.       'S<i>erAwTo   jiddidit.'  (xlii.  2,  §  4.) 


CII.    IX.]    THE  SCYTHS  CHECKED ARMENIA  ATTACKED.     125 

Ortoadistus/  wlio  seems  to  have  been  the  preeedessor, 
and  was  perhai)s  the  father,  of  the  great  Tigraues.^  Orto- 
adistus  rilled  the  tract  called  by  the  Romans 'Armenia 
Magna/  Avhich  extended  from  the  Euphrates  on  the 
west  to  the  mouth  of  the  Araxes  on  the  east,  and  from 
the  valley  of  the  Kur  northwards  to  Mount  Kiphates 
and  the  head  streams  of  the  Tisfris  towards  the  south. 
The  people  over  which  he  ruled  was  one  of  the  oldest 
in  Asia,  and  had  on  many  occasions  shown  itself  im- 
patient of  a  conqueror.  Justin,  on  reaching  this  point 
in  his  work,  observes  that  he  could  not  feel  himself 
justified  if,  when  his  subject  brought  before  him  so 
mio:hty  a  kino-dom,  he  did  not  enter  at  some  lenofth  on 
its  previous  history,^  The  modern  historian  would  be 
even  less  excusable  than  Justin  if  he  omitted  such  a 
review,  since,  while  he  has  less  right  to  assume  a 
knowledge  of  early  Armenian  history  on  the  part  of  his 
readers,  he  has  greater  means  of  gratifying  their 
curiosity,  owing  to  the  recent  discovery  of  sources  of 
information  unknown  to  the  ancients. 

Armenia  first  comes  before  us  in  Genesis,  where  it  is 
mentioned  as  the  country  on  whose  mountains  the  ark 
rested.*  A  recollection  of  it  was  thenceforth  retained 
in  the  semi-mythic  traditions  of  the  Ba])ylonians.^ 
According  to  some,^  the  Egyptian    monarchs   of   the 


'  Justin,    xlii.    2,   §    6.     Some  of  I  etymological ly   quite   distinct   from 
the  MSS.  have  '  Arthoadisti,'  others    Armenia,  I'Ut  wliich  desij^nates  the 


'Artadisti.'  It  may  be  su>i)ecteJ 
that  the  true  reading  is  '  Arta- 
vasdis.' 

Appian  makes  Tigranes  the  son 


same  country. 

'  See  Beros.  Pr.  .7.  §  6. 

'  Leni)rmant,    Manuel   d'Histoire 
Antique  lie  P  Orient,  vol.  i.  pp.  379, 


of  a  Tigranes  {Hijr.  p.  IIS,  D)  ;  but '  385,  &c.  The  conclusion  is  based 
his  authority  is  not  very  great,  on  the  etymological  identity  of  a 
Moses  of  Chorene  calls  his  father  word  read  as  Ltmnnen  or  Remanen 
Ardasiies.  with    Annina     (Old   Pers.)    or    Ar- 

^  Justin,  xlii.  2,  §§  7,  8.  I  menia.   The  elymolocry  is.  of  course, 

*  Gen.   viii.  4.     The  geographic  d    quite    po->ibl?  ;   but  it  is  against  the 
term  used  is  Ararat,  ;2"1~1N'  "  hich  is    identification  that  the  word  Armina 


126  THE   SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CU.    IX. 

eigliteentli  and  nineteenth  dynasties  carried  their  arms 
into  its  remote  valleys,  and  exacted  tribute  from  the 
petty  chiefs  who  then  ruled  there.  At  any  rate,  it  is 
certain  that  from  about  the  ninth  century  B.C.  it  was 
well  known  to  the  Assyrians,  ^vho  were  engaged  fi'oni 
that  time  till  about  e.c.  640  in  almost  constant  wars 
with  its  inhabitants.*  At  this  period  three  princii)al 
races  inhabited  the  countiy — the  Nairi,  who  were 
spread  from  the  mountains  west  of  Lake  Van  along  both 
sides  of  the  Tigris  to  Bir  on  the  Euphrates,  and  even 
further;  the  Urarda  (Alarodii,  or  people  of  Ararat), 
who  dwelt  north  and  east  of  the  Nairi,  on  the  upper 
Euphrates,  about  the  lake  of  Van,  and  probably  on  tlie 
Araxes ;  and  the  Minni,  whose  country  lay  south-east 
of  the  Urarda,  in  the  Urumiyeh  basin  and  the  adjoin- 
ing parts  of  Zagros,  Of  these  three  races,  the  Urarda 
were  the  most  powerful,  and  it  was  with  them  that  the 
Assyrians  waged  their  most  bloody  wars.  The  capital 
city  of  the  Urarda  was  Van,  on  the  eastern  shores  of 
the  lake ;  and  here  it  was  that  their  kings  set  up  the 
most  remarkalde  of  their  inscriptions.  Six  monarchs, 
who  apparently  all  belong  to  one  dynasty,  left  insci'ip- 
tions  in  this  locality  commemorative  of  their  military 
expeditions  or  of  their  offerings  to  the  gods."  Tlie  later 
names  of  the  series  can  be  identified  with  those  of 
kings  who  contended  with  Assyrian  monarchs  belong- 
ing to  tlie  last,  or  Sargonid,  dynasty;"^  and  hence  we 
are  entitled  apj^roximately    to   fix    the    series    to  the 


seems  not  to  liavo   been  known    in  !  Bahylon,    pp.   304-403.     'I'liey  huve 


the   country    till    the    times  of   the 
Medo  Persians. 

'  See  Ancient  Monnrchics,  vol.  ii. 
pp.  10],  112,  150,  210,  &c.  (2n(l  edit.) 
For  an  account  of  these  inscrip 


tions,    see    Layard,    Nineceh     and\D.c.  04U. 


been  published  by  Scbulz. 

'  Ar<i,histis  contended  with  Sar- 
{^m,  ab.  H.c.  720-700,  and  the 
second  Bilat-Duri  (Miliddnris  of 
I,,ayard)   with    Asshur-bani-pal,   ab. 


en.    IX.]  EARLY    HISTORY    OF   ARMENIA.  127 

seventh  and  eisrhtli  centuries  before  our  era.  The 
Urarda  must  at  tliis  time  have  exercised  a  dominion 
over  ahnost  the  whole  of  the  region  to  which  the  name 
of  Armenia  commonly  attaches.^  They  wore  worthy 
antagonists  of  the  x\ssyrians,  and,  though  occasionally 
worsted  in  fight,  maintained  their  independence,  at  any 
rate,  till  the  time  of  Asshur-bani-pal  (about  b.c.  640), 
when  the  last  king  of  the  Van  series,  whose  name  is 
read  as  Bilat-duri,  succumbed  to  the  Assyi'ian  power, 
and  consented  to  pay  a  tribute  for  his  dominions.^ 

There  is  reason  to  believe,  that  between  the  time 
when  we  obtain  this  view  of  the  primitive  Armenian 
peoples  and  that  at  which  we  next  have  any  exact 
knowledge  of  the  condition  of  the  country — the  time  of 
the  Persian  monarchy — a  great  revolution' had  taken 
place  in  the  region.  The  Nairi,  Urarda,  and  Minni 
were  Turanian,  or,  at  any  rate,  non-Arian,  races.' 
Their  congeners  in  Western  Asia  were  the  early  Baby- 
lonians and  the  Susianians,  not  the  Medes,  the  Persians, 
or  the  Phrygians.  But  l)y  the  time  of  Herodotus  the 
Arian  character  of  the  Armenians  had  become  estab- 
lished. Their  close  connection  with  the  Phiygians 
was  recognized.^  They  had  changed  their  national 
appellation  ;  for  ^vhile  in  the  xVssyrian  period  the  terms 
Nairi  and  Urarda  had  2:)reponderated,  under  the  Per- 
sians they  had  come  to  be  called  Armenians  and  their 
country  Armenia.^   The  personal  names  of  individuals 


'  They  style  themselves  'kings!  ^  Sir  H.  Rawlinsoi  in  the  au- 
of  the  Nairi,'  and  relate  their  sue-  thor's  Herodotus,  vol.  iv.  p.  200,  2nd 
ccssful  expeditions  into  the  Minni  edit, 
countiy.  Their  inscriptions  at  Ma-  ■*  Herod,  vii.  73. 
hitiyel).  Pain.  ;mil  in  the  Miyandab,  *  See  the  lieh.  Jim.  col.  i.  par.  fi  ; 
south  of  Lake  Uruniiyeli,  indicate  col.  ii.  par.  7,  &c.  Tue  term 
the  extent  of  their  sway.  I  WpuFvim   seems    to    have   been    first 

^  Anrii'ut  Monarchies,    vol.    ii.    p.    introduced    into    Greece    by    Heca- 
210,  2nd  edit.  tieus  (Fr.  195). 


128 


TUE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CII.  IX. 


in  the  country,  botli  men  and  women,  had  acquired  a 
decidely  Arian  cast.  Eveiything  seems  to  indicate 
that  a  strange  people  had  immigrated  into  the  land, 
bringing  with  them  a  new  language,  new  manners  and 
customs,  and  a  new  religious  system.^  From  what 
quarter  they  had  come,  whether  from  Phrygia,  as 
Herodotus  and  Stephen  ^  believed,  or,  as  we  should 
gather  from  their  hmguage  and  religion,  from  Media,  is 
perhaps  doubtful ;  but  it  seems  cej'tain  that  from  one 
quarter  or  another  Armenia  had  been  Arianised  ;  the 
old  Turanian  character  had  passed  away  from  it ;  im- 
migrants had  flocked  in,  and  a  new  people  had  been 
formed — the  real  Armenian  of  later  times,  and  indeed 
of  the  present  day— by  the  admixture  of  ruling  Arian 
tribes  with  a  primitive  Turanian  population,  the  de- 
scendants of  the  old  inha])itants. 

The  new  race,  thus  formed,  though  perhaps  not  less 
brave  and  warlike  than  the  old,  was  less  bent  on  main- 
taining its  independence.  Moses  of  Chorene,  the 
Armenian  historian,  admits  that  from  the  time  of  the 
Median  preponderance  in  Western  Asia,  the  Armenians 
held  under  them  a  subject  position."*     That  such  was 


'  In  the  Behistnn  Inscription  we 
have  tliree  Armenian  nameH,  I)a- 
(larsliish,  Arakha,  aiul  Ilandita. 
Of  tliese  Dadiishish  is  manifestly 
Arian,  beinj^  a  reduplicated  form 
from  (/itrs/i^  'to  dire.'  Arakha  has 
the  root  Ar  (^  (irii/a,  'noble') 
witli  the  Scythic  termination  <(kh 
suffixed  to  it.  Ilandita  has  the 
same  participial  ending  as  Khsha- 
thrita  (Xathritis),  Arshita  (Ar- 
sites),  and  the  like,  hut  its  etymo- 
logy is  otherwise  obscure.  To 
tliese  undoubted  Armeiiinn  names 
we  may  add  from  .M')s('S  of  Ch'i- 
rfine  Tigranis,    Tigraiiia,  Eryanlus 


(=Aryandes),  and  Zaria;  and  from 
Xeno[)hon,  Sal)aris  (=  Sybares). 
Of  these,  Tigrancs,  Aryandes,  and 
Sybares  are  well-known  Persian 
names;  Tigrania  is  a  feminine  form 
of  Tigranes  (com]>are  lloxane)  ; 
Zaria  is  from  Z(tra,  'gold,'  and 
would  mean  '  golden-haired.'  Com- 
pare the  Greek  Chryse  and  Chry- 
sis. 

*  The  later  Armenian  religion 
was  like  the  Persian  (Strab.  xi.  14, 
§  IG).  The  religion  of  the  Urarda 
was  entirely  ditferent. 

'■'  Step'i.  Byz.  ad  voc.  'hp^evia. 

*  Hint.  Armen.  i.  '21. 


CII.  IX.]  AH.AIENIA  UNDER  THE  PERSIANS  AND  GREEKS.  129 

their  position  under  the  Persians  is  abundantly  evident ;  ^ 
and,  so  fai'  as  aj^pears,  there  was  only  one  occasion 
during  the  entire  Achaemenian  period  (b.c.  559  to  b.c. 
331)  when  they  exhibited  any  impatience  of  the  Persian 
yoke,  or  made  any  attempt  to  free  themselves  from  it. 
In  the  early  portion  of  the  reign  of  Darius  Hystaspis 
they  took  part  in  a  revolt  raised  by  a  Mede  called 
Phraortes,  and  were  not  reduced  to  obedience  without 
some  difficulty.^  But  from  henceforth  their  fidelity  to 
the  Acluemeuian  Kings  was  unbroken  ;  they  paid  their 
tribute  (apparently)  without  reluctance,^  and  furnished 
contingents  of  troops  to  the  Persian  armies  when 
called  upon.'*  After  Arbela,  they  su])mitted  without 
a  struggle  to  Alexander;^  and  when  in  the  division 
of  his  dominions,  which  followed  upon  the  battle 
of  Ipsus,  they  fell  naturally  to  Seleucus,  they  ac- 
quiesced in  the  arrangement.^  It  was  not  until 
Antiochus  the  Great  suffered  his  great  defeat  at 
the  hands  of  the  Romans  (b.c.  190)  that  Armenia 
bestirred  itself,  and,  after  probably  four  and  a  half 
centuries  of  subjection,  became  once  more  an  indepen- 
dent power.  Even  then  the  movement  seems  to  have 
originated  rather  in  the  ambition  of  a  chief  than  in  a 
desire  for  libei'ty  on  the  part  of  the  people.  Artaxias 
had  been  governor  of  the  Greater  Armenia  under  Anti- 
ochus,'^ and  seized  the  opportunity  afforded  l)y  the 
battle  of  Magnesia  to  change  his  title  of  satrap  into  that 
of  sovereign.     No  war  followed.     Antiochus  was  too 


Behid.      Ins.     col.    i.    par.    6  ;  I      *  Herod,  vii.  73 ;  Arrian,  1.  s.  c. 


Herod,  iii.   93  ;  Xen.  An.  iv.  3,  §  4 
4,  §  4 ;  Arrian,  Erp.  Alex.  iii.  8. 

"^  Beh.  Inscr.  col.  ii.  par.  2-18. 

'  Strab.  xi.  14,  §  9.  'O  aarpdivr]^ 
TTj'i  Apfisviai  Tu  Tlepay  kot'  Irni  (hrtfiv- 
piovi  TTuT^ov's  rolg  MiOpaKtvoiS  €TrejUirev. 


'  Arrian,  iii.  16. 

'  Strab.  xi.  14,  §  15. 

*  Ibid.  '  lixpov  ovroi  ['A/jrrt|/aS 
re  KOI  Zapia(5/3iS]  Tov  ^auiAewS  ettc- 
TpeipavToi. 


130 


THE    SIXTH    MONAKCIIY. 


[Cll.  IX 


much  weakened  by  his  reverses  to  make  any  attempt 
to  reduce  Artaxias  or  recover  Armenia ;  and  the  nation 
obtained  autonomy  without  having  to  undergo  the 
usual  ordeal  of  a  bloody  struggle.  AVhen  at  the  expi- 
ration of  five-and-twenty  years  Epiphanes,  the  son  of 
Antiochus  the  Great,  determined  on  an  effort  to  recon- 
quer the  lost  province,  no  very  stubl)orn  resistance  was 
offered  to  him.  Artaxias  was  defeated  and  made  pri- 
soner in  the  very  first  year  of  the  war  (b.c.  165),  and 
Armenia  seems  to  have  passed  again  imder  the  sway  of 
the  Seleucidge.^ 

It  would  seem  that  matters  remained  in  this  state 
for  the  space  of  about  fifteen  or  sixteen  years.  When, 
however,  Mithridates  I.  (Arsaces  VI.),  about  b.c.  1 50, 
had  overrun  the  eastern  provinces  of  Syria,  and  made 
himself  master  in  succession  of  Media,  Elyma'is,  and 
Babylonia,  the  revolutionary  movement  excited  by 
his  successes  reached  Armenia,  and  the  standard  of 
independence  was  once  more  raised  in  that  country. 
According  to  the  Armenian  historians,^  an  Arsacid 
prince,  Wagharshag  or  Valarsaces,  was  established  as 
sovereign  l)y  the  influence  of  the  Parthian  monarch, 
l)ut  was  allowed  to  rule  independently.  A  reign  of 
twenty-two  years  is  assigned  to  this  prince,  whose 
kino^dom  is  declared  to  liave  reached  from  the  Caucasus 
to  Nisibis,  and  from  the  Caspian  to  the  Mediterranean.^ 
lie  was  succeeded  by  bis  son,  Arsliag  (Arsaces),  who 
reigned  thirteen  years,  and  was,  like  liis  father,  active 
and  warlike,  contending  chiefly  -with  the  people  of 
Pontus.'*  At  Ids  death  the  crown  descended  to  his  son, 
Ar<lashes,^  who  is  [)i-()ba]>ly  the  Ortoadistus  of  Justin.*' 

Such  were  the  antecedents  of  Armenia  when  Mithri- 


Appian,  Syrhtca,  p.  117,  B. 
Sec   Mos.   Clior.    HiM.    Arm. 

Ibid.  chs.  4-7. 


*  Ibid.  ch.  8. 
"  Ibid.  ch.  9,  §  1. 

"  Ardashes,  is  made  by  Moses  the 
father  and    ])redec('SSor  of  Tigraiies, 


CH.    IX.]       ARMEXIA  ATTACKED  BY  MITHUIDATES  II.  131 

dates  II.,  having  given  an  effectual  clieclv  to  the  pro- 
gress of  the  Scythians  in  tlie  east,  determined  to  dii-ect 
his  arms  towards  the  west,  and  to  attack  the  dominions 
of  his  relative,  the  third  of  the  Armenian  Arsacidje. 
Of  the  circumstances  of  this  war,  and  its  results,  we 
have  scarcely  any  knowledge.  Justin,  who  alone 
distinctly  mentions  it,  gives  us  no  details.  A  notice, 
however,  in  Strabo,  which  must  refer  to  about  this 
time,  is  thouo'ht  to  indicate  with  sufficient  cleai-ness 
the  result  of  the  struggle,  which  seems  to  have  been 
unfavoural)le  to  the  Armenians.  Strabo  says  that 
Tigranes,  before  his  accession  to  the  throne,  was  for  a 
time  a  hostai>:e  amons*  the  Parthians.^  As  hostao-es 
are  only  given  hy  the  vanquished  party,  we  may 
assume  tliat  Ortoadistus  (Ardashes)  found  himself 
unable  to  oifer  an  effectual  resistance  to  the  Parthian 
kinof,  and  consented  after  a  while  to  a  disadvantao^eous 
peace,  for  his  observance  of  which  hostages  wei'e 
required  l)y  the  victor. 

It  cannot  have  been  more  than  a  few  years  after  the 
termination  of  this  war,  which  must  have  taken  place 
towards  the  close  of  the  second,  or  soon  after  the 
beginning  of  the  first  century,^  that  Parthia  was  for 
the  first  time  brousflit  into  contact  with  Rome. 

The  Great  Republic,  which  after  her  complete  victory 
over   Antiochus    III.,  b.c.    190,  had   declined   to  take 


and  is  given  a  reign  of  twenty-five  '  "  As  Tigranes  lived  to  b.c.  55, 
years.  (Compare  ii.  10,  §  1,  with  and  was  eighty-five  at  his  death 
ii.  13,  §  1.)  This  would  bring  his  (Lucian,  Macr.  §  15),  he  must 
accession  to  b.c.  121,  and  would  have  been  born  b.c.  140;  in  which 
makethe  expedition  of  Mithridates  II.  case  he  can  scarcely  liave  been 
(ab.  B.C.  100)  certainly  fall  in  his  time,  given  as  a  hostage  till  b.c  120.  His 
'  Sirab.  xi.  14,  §  15.  Kar'  ap,v"5  accession  to  the  throne  is  generally 
H^v  ufiTJpevae  irapii  UufjOoii.  Corn-  placed  B.C.  96. 
pare  Justin,  xxxviii    3,  §  1.  ' 


132  THE    SIXTH    310NAKCnY.  [cTI.    IX. 

possession  of  a  single  foot  of  ground  in  Asia,  regarding 
the  general  state  of  affairs  as  not  then  ripe  foi"  an 
advance  of  Terminus  in  that  quartei',  had  now  for 
some  time  seen  reason  to  alter  its  policy,  and  to  aim 
at  adding  to  its  European  an  extensive  Asiatic  do- 
minion. Macedonia  and  Greece  having  been  absoi-bed, 
and  Carthage  destroyed  (b.c.  148-146),  the  conditions 
of  the  political  problem  seemed  to  be  so  far  changed 
as  to  render  a  further  advance  towards  the  east  a  safe 
measure  ;  and  accordingly,  when  it  was  seen  that  the 
line  of  the  kins^s  of  Pero-amus  was  comins:  to  an  end, 
the  Senate  set  on  foot  intrigues  which  had  for  their 
object  the  devolution  upon  Kome  of  the  sovei'eignty 
belonging  to  those  monarchs.  By  clever  management 
the  third  Attains  was  induced,  in  repayment  of  his 
father's  obligations  to  the  Romans,^  to  bequeath  his 
entii'e  dominions  as  a  legacy  to  the  Republic.  In  vain 
did  his  illegitimate  half-brother,  Aristonicus,  disj^ute 
the  validity  of  so  extraoi'dinary  a  testament;  the 
Romans,  aided  by  Mithridates  IV.,  then  monarch  of 
Pontus,  easily  triumphed  over  such  resistance  as  this 
unfortunate  prince  could  offer,^  and  having  ceded  to 
their  ally  the  portion  of  Phrygia  which  had  belonged 
to  the  Pergamene  kingdom,^  entered  on  the  possession 
of  the  i-emainder.  Having  thus  become  an  Asiatic 
j)ower,  the  Great  Republic  was  of  necessity  mixed  up 
henceforth  witli  the  various  movements  and  struo-o-les 
which  agitated  Western  Asia,  and  was  natui-ally  led  to 
strengthen    its   position  among  the  Asiatic  kingdoms 


'  The     chief     use     which     Rome  |  Lectnres    on  Ancient  History,    vol. 
made   of    her    vi<;lory   at    Mapncsia    iii.  p.  403,  E.  T.) 
was  to  aii^^nient  the  territory  of  her        "  Justin,   xxxvi.  4,  §§   6-9  ;  YelL 
ally,  Eiirncne.s  of  Perpimus,    whose    Paterc.  ii.  4,  &c. 
(loiiiinioris   she  more    than    don'  led        '  Justin,  xxxvii.  1,  §  2. 
on    the    occasion.       (Sec    Niebuhr, 


CH.  IX.]        FIRST  CONTACT  OF  PAETHI A  WITH  ROME.  133 

by  siicli  alliances  as  seemed  at  each  conjuncture  best 
fitted  for  its  interests. 

Hitherto  no  occasion  had  arisen  for  any  direct 
dealings  between  Rome  and  Parthia.  Their  respective 
territories  were  still  separated  by  considerable  tracts, 
which  were  in  the  occupation  of  the  Syrians,  the 
Cappadocians,  and  the  Armenians.  Their  interests 
had  neither  clashed,  nor  as  yet  sufficiently  united  them 
to  give  rise  to  any  diplomatic  intercourse.  But  the 
progress  of  the  two  Empires  in  opposite  directions  was 
continually  bringing  them  nearer  to  each  other ;  and 
events  had  now  reached  a  point  at  which  the  Empires 
began  to  have  (or  to  seem  to  have)  such  a  community 
of  interests  as  led  naturally  to  an  exchange  of  com- 
munications. A  great  power  had  been  recently  de- 
veloped in  these  parts.  In  the  rapid  way  so  common 
in  the  East,  Mithridates  V.,  of  Pontus,  the  son  and 
successor  of  Rome's  ally,  had,  between  b.c.  112  and 
B.C.  93,  built  up  an  Empire  of  vast  extent,  numerous 
population,  and  almost  inexhaustible  resources.  He 
had  established  his  authority  over  Armenia  Minor, 
Colchis,  the  entire  east  coast  of  the  Black  Sea,  the 
Chersonesus  Taurica,  or  kingdom  of  the  Bosporus, 
and  even  over  the  whole  tract  lying  west  of  the 
Chersonese  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Tyras,  or 
Dniester.^  Nor  had  these  gains  contented  him.  He 
had  obtained  half  of  Paphlagonia  ])y  an  iniquitous 
compact  with  Nicomedes,  King  of  Bithynia ;  he  had 
occupied  Galatia  ;  and  he  was  engaged  in  attempts  to 
bring  Cappadocia  under  his  influence.  In  this  last- 
named  project  he  was  assisted  by  the  Armenians,  with 
whose  king,  Tigranes,  he  had  (about  b.c.  96)  formed 
a  close  alliance,    at    the    same    time    giving    him  his 

'  Meranon,  Fr.  30  ;  Justin,  xxxvii.  3 ;  Strab.  vii.  4,  §  3,  &c. 


134  THE    SIXTH    MON Alien V.  [CH.  IX. 

daiigliter,  Cleopatra^  in  marriage.^  Eonie,  though  she 
had  not  yet  determined  on  war  with  Mithridates,  was 
resolved  to  thwart  his  Cappadocian  projects,  and  in 
B.C.  92  sent  Snlla  into  Asia  with  orders  to  pnt  down 
the  puppet  whom  Mithridates  and  Tigranes  were 
establishing,  and  to  replace  upon  the  Cappadocian 
throne  a  certain  Ariobarzanes,  whom  they  had  driven 
from  his  kino:dom.^  In  the  execution  of  this  com- 
mission,  Sulla  was  brought  into  hostile  collision  with 
the  Armenians,  whom  he  defeated  with  great  slaughter, 
and  drove  from  Cappadocia  together  with  their  puppet 
king.^  Thus,  not  only  did  the  gi'owing  power  of 
Mithridates  of  Pontus,  by  inspiring  Rome  and  Parthia 
with  a  common  fear,  tend  to  draw  them  together, 
but  the  course  of  events  had  actually  given  them 
a  common  enemy  in  Tigranes  of  Armenia,  who  was 
equally  obnoxious  to  both. 

For  Tigranes,  who,  during  the  time  that  he  was 
a  hostao-e  in  Pai'thia,  had  contracted  eno:ao:ements 
towards  the  Parthian  monarch  which  involved  a 
cession  of  territory,  and  who  in  consequence  of  his 
promises  had  been  aided  by  the  Parthians  in  seating 
himself  on  his  father's  throne,^  thougli  lie  made  the 
cession  i'e(prired  of  him  in  the  hrst  instance,  had  soon 
afterwards  repented  of  his  good  faith,  had  gone  to 
war  witli  liis  benefactors,  recovered  the  ceded  territory, 
and  laid  waste  a  considerable  tract  of  country  lying 
witliin  the  admitted  limits  of  the  Parthian  kino-dom.^ 


'  Appian,  Mlthridat.  p.  180  C. 
Plut.  LucmU.  §  14;  Justin,  xxxviii. 
3,  ?  2  ;  Memnon,  Fr.  43,  <^  2. 

■■'Plut.  Snll.  §  5  ;  Liv.  Epit.  Ixx. 

'  Plut.  1  s.  C.  W'^Kiovai  'Ap/iEiiui' 
TrftdiiiiTi^JovVTiiS  ('nroKTeivai.   T('ii)(hm>  /itH/ 

iiani'kta.  j  exact  period 

■•  Strub.  xi.  14,  §  15  ;  Justin, 
xxxviii.  3,  §  1. 


^  Strab.   1.    s.  c.     The  district  ra- 
Viip^ed  was  that  about  Niiiovch  and 

Arbela  {inhp^inne  rijv  Tf  TTepl  NiPim 
Kal  t;/p  Tvcfu  ' KftStj'ka).  There  is  a 
diffiouity  in  fixin'j;  the  time  of  these 
events,  and  I  have  been  guieled  by 
proi>al)ility  in  placing  them  at  this 


en.  IX.]  PAllTIILl    ATTACKED    BY    TIGEAXES.  185 

These  proceedings  liacl,  of  course,  alienated  Mitbri- 
dates  II. ;  and  we  may  with  much  probability  ascribe 
to  them  the  step,  which  he  now  took,  of  sending  au 
ambassador  to  Sulla.  Orobazus,  the  individual  selected, 
was  charged  to  propose  an  alliance  offensive  and  de- 
fensive between  the  two  countries.*  Sulla  received 
the  overture  favourably,  but  probably  considered  that 
it  transcended  his  powers  to  conclude  a  treaty  ;  and 
thus  nothing  moi-e  was  effected  by  the  embassy  than 
the  establishing  of  a  good  understanding  between 
the  two  States.^ 

Soon  after  this  Tigranes  appears  to  have  renewed 
liis  attacks  ujwn  Parthia,'^  which  in  the  interval  between 
B.C.  92  and  b.c.  83  he  greatly  humbled,^  depriving  it  of 
the  whole  of  Upper  Mesopotamia,  at  this  time  called 
Gordyene,  and  under  the  rule  of  one  of  the  Parthian 
tributary  kings.^  Of  the  details  of  this  war  we  have 
no  account ;  and  it  is  even  uncertain  whether  it  fell 
within  the  reign  of  Mithridates  II.  or  no.  The  un- 
fortunate mistake  of  Justin,®  whereby  he  confounded  this 
monarch  with  Mithridates  III.,  has  thrown  this  portion 
of  the  Parthian  history  into  confusion,  and  hns  made 
even  the  successor  of  Mithridates  II.  uncertain. 

Mithridates    11.  probably  died  about  b.c.   89,  after 


'  Plutarch     speaks    of    the    Par- 1  were  regarded  as  established  is  im- 

thians  as  avufiaxini  koI  tpiliac  ihofif.  I  plied    in    the   expression    of  Livv's 

vovc.        Livy's      epitomizer      says  :  |  epitomizer,    under     b.c.     66,     '  Cn. 

'Parthorum  legati.    a   rege    Arsace    Pompeius     cum     regc     Paithorum 

missi,  venerunt  ad  Sullain,  ut  ami-    Phraate  araicitiam  renovavit.''     (Ep. 
..     ^  .  .    ^^ 

=  See  Plut.  TAtcnll.  §  14.  TiypAvTi^, 
EX(->v  Svva/iiv  y  n«p0oi'5  nepiKonret 
Tt/i  'Aoiai. 

Mbid.  §  21.  Tf/v  TlapODv,  J.; 
u^/oi  ovSei^,  dvvafjiv  k  t  air  e  i  v  u  n  ev. 

"  Cf.  Slr.ib.  xi.  14,  §  15.  with 
Plut.  Lmnll.  §  21. 

«  See  above,  p.  123. 


citiam  populi  Romuni  peterent.' 
Velleius  puts  the  embassy  nine 
years  later  (\.  24,  §  3),  when  Sulla 
was  in  Asia  for  the  second  tune; 
but  the  coml)ined  authority  of  Livy 
and  IMutarch  outweighs  his. 

"^  We  find  no  mention  in  any 
author  of  a  treaty  being  made  at 
this  time.     That  friendly   relations 


186  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  IX. 

a  reign  which  must  have  exceeded  thirty-five  years. 
His  great  successes  against  the  Scythians  in  the  earlier 
portion  of  his  I'eign  were  to  some  extent  counter- 
balanced by  his  losses  to  Tigranes  in  his  old  age ; 
but  on  the  Avhole  he  must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the 
more  vigorous  and  successful  of  the  Parthian  monarchs, 
and  as  combining  courage  with  prudence.  It  is  to 
his  credit  that  he  saw  the  advantage  of  establishing 
friendly  relations  Avith  Rome  at  a  time  when  an  ordi- 
nary Oriental  monarch  might  have  despised  the  distant 
Republic,  and  have  thought  it  beneath  his  dignity 
to  make  overtures  to  so  strange  and  anomalous  a 
power.  AVhether  he  definitely  foresaw  the  part  which 
Rome  was  about  to  play  in  the  East,  we  may  doubt ;  l)ut 
at  any  rate  he  must  have  had  a  ])revision  that  the  ])ait 
would  not  be  trifling  oi'  insignificant.  Of  the  j^i^i^'^'ite 
character  of  Mithridates  Ave  have  no  sufficient  materials 
to  judge.  If  it  1)3  true  that  In;  put  his  envoy,  Orobazus, 
to  death  on  account  of  his  having  allowed  Sulla  to 
assume  a  position  at  their  conference  dei'ogatory  to  the 
dignity  of  the  Parthian  State,-^  we  nuist  pronounce  him 
a  harsh  master;  but  the  tale,  which  rests  wholly  on 
the  weak  authority  of  the  gossip-loving  Plutarch,  is 
perhaps  scarcely  to  be  accepted. 


'  As  related  by  Pliitaich,  Si/U.   §  5. 


CII.  X.]  GAP  IX  THE  LIST  OF  PARTHIAN  KINGS.  137 


CHAPTER  X. 

Darh  period  of  Pnrtldan  History.  DoxMful  Succession  of  the  MovarcTis. 
Accesxion  of  Snnutraces,  nh.  B.C.  76.  Position  of  Parthia  dttring  the 
Mithridatic  Wars.  Accession  of  Phrnates  III.  His  Relations  with 
Pompey.  His  Death.  Civil  War  heticeen  his  two  sons,  Mithridates  and 
Or  des.     Death  of  Mithridates. 

'  Varirt  compluriurn  reguin  in  Paithis  successione  impcrium  accepit  Orodes.' 

Trog.  Pomp.  Epit.  lib.  xlii. 

The  successor  of  Mithridates  11.  is  unknown.  It  lias 
been  argued,  indeed,  that  the  reigns  of  the  known 
monarchs  of  this  period  would  not  be  unduly  long 
if  we  regarded  them  as  strictly  consecutive,  and  placed 
no  blank  between  the  death  of  ^Mithridates  11.,  and 
the  accession  of  the  next  Arsaces  whose  name  has 
come  down  to  us.^  Sanatroeces,  it  has  been  said,  may 
have  been,  and  may,  therefore,  well  be  regarded  as, 
the  successor  of  Mithridates.  But  the  words  of  the 
epitomiser  of  Trogus,  placed  at  the  head  of  this 
chapter,  forbid  the  acceptance  of  this  theory.  The 
epitomiser  would  not  have  spoken  of  '^  mamj  kings'  as 
intervening  between  Mithridates  II.  and  Orodes,  if 
the  numV)er  had  been  only  three.  The  expression 
implies,  at  least,  four  or  five  monarchs ;  and  thus  we 
have  no  choice  but  to  suppose  that  the  succession 
of  the  kings  is  here  imperfect,^  and  that  at  least  one  or 


'  Clinton,    Fasti  Pomani,    vol.   ii.  I  succession    of    these    three   and   of 
p.  245,  note  1.  I  Orodes  to  Mithridates    III.    is    cer- 

'■'  The  known  kings  between  Mi-  j  tain.      Thus  the  only  possible  gap 
thridates  II.   and  Orodes  are  three    is  between  Mithridates  11.    and  Su- 
only — viz.,     Sanatroeces,      Phraates    natroeccs. 
III.'     and    Mithridates    III.        The  i 


138  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [cil.    X. 

two  reigns  were  interposed  between  those  of  the 
second  Mithridates  and  of  the  monarch  known  as 
Sanatroeces,  Sinatroces,  or  Sintricns. 

A  casual  notice  of  a  I'arthian  monarch  in  a  late 
writer  may  supply  the  gap,  either  wholly  or  in  part. 
Lucian  speaks  of  a  certain  Mnasciras  as  a  Parthian 
king,  who  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-six.^ 
As  there  is  no  other  place  in  the  Parthian  history 
at  which  the  succession  is  doul)tful,  and  as  no  such 
name  as  Mnasciras  occurs  elsewhere  in  the  list,  it 
seems  necessary,  unless  we  reject  Lucian's  authority 
altogether,  to  insert  this  monarch  here.  We  cannot 
say,  however,  how  long  he  reigned,  or  ascribe  to  him 
any  })articular  actions ;  nor  can  we  say  definitely  what 
king  he  either  succeeded  or  preceded.  It  is  possible 
that  his  reign  covered  the  entire  interval  between 
Mithridates  II.  and  Sanatroeces  ;  it  is  possible,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  he  had  successors  and  predecessors, 
whose  names  have  altogether  perished. 

The  expression  used  l)y  the  epitomiser  of  Trogus,^ 
and  a .  few  words  dropped  by  Plutarch,'^  render  it 
probal)le  tliat  al)out  this  time  tliere  were  contentions 
between  various  members  of  the  Arsacid  family  which 
issued  in  actual  civil  war.  Such  contentions  are  a 
marked  feature  of  the  later  history ;  and,  according  to 
Plutarch,  they  commenced  at  this  period.  AVe  may 
suspect  from  the  great  age  of  two  of  the  monarchs 
chosen,"*  tliat  the  Arsacid  stock  was  now  very  limited 
in  luiniber,  that  it  offered  no  candidates  for  the  throne 


'  Lucian,  Marroh.  S  15. 

"  '  Varia  Compluriutu  rcf^um 
mccfiHHioiic.''  A  varied  succession 
implies  irrregularity,  which  is  natu- 
rally iiccompanieil  hy  disturbance. 


(^vvdfiEuS  vtt'  e  fM  <j>  V  X  l  (a)  V  Kat  npnanl- 
Kuv  noTitfxuv  oiV5'  ' Ap/xeviovi  vfipi- 
^ovTfiS  c/ipufiivrii  afivveaOai. 

*  Sanatroeces  and  Mnasciras,  who 
were  respectively  ei}z;hty  and  about 


Plut.  Lncull.  §  36.     T^s    UupOuv    ninety  ut  their  accession. 


CH. 


X.] 


ACCESSION    OF    SANATKCECES. 


139 


whose  claims  were  indisputable,  and  that  consequently 
at  each  vacancy  there  was  a  division  of  opinion  among 
the  '  Mesfistanes ,'  wliich  led  to  the  claimants  making 
appeal,  if  the  election  ^vent  against  them,  to  the 
arbitrament  of  arms. 

The  dark  time  of  Parthian  history  is  terminated  by 
the  accession  —  probably  in  e.g.  76^  —  of  the  king 
above  mentioned  as  known  by  the  three  names  of 
Sanatroeces,  Sinatroces,  and  Sintricus.^  The  form, 
Sanatrc9ces,  whicli  appears  upon  the  Parthian  coins,  is 
on  that  account  to  be  preferred.  The  king  so  called 
had  reached  when  elected  the  advanced  age  of  eighty.^ 
It  may  be  suspected  that  he  was  a  son  of  the  sixth 
i^rsaces'*  (Mithridates  I.),  and  consequently  a  brother 
of  Phraates  II.  He  had,  perhaps,  been  made  prisoner 
by  the  Scythians  in  the  course  of  the  disastrous  war 
waged  by  that  monarch,  and  had  been  retained  in 
captivity  for  above  fifty  years.  At  any  rate,  he 
appears  to  have  been  indeV)ted  to  the  Scythians  in 
some  measure  for  the  cro\vn  which  he  acquired  so 
tardily,  his  enjoyment  of  it  having  been  secured  by  the 
help  of  a  contingent  of  troops  furnished  to  him  by  the 
Scythic  tribe  of  the  Sacauracie.^ 


'  So  Phlcson  {Fr.  12),  who  is 
more  definite  in  his  statement  than 
Mr.  Clinton,  represents  (F.  li.  vol. 
ii.  p.  245).  Dio  {Hist.  linm.  xxxv. 
3  ;  xxxvi.  28)  and  Appian  {Mithri- 
d(it.  p.  242,  E.)*  are  les>  exact,  but 
on  the  whole  confirm  Phleujon. 

"  Sanatroeces  (2AN.\TP0IKHS)  is 
the  form  foimd  upon  the  coins; 
Sinatroces  is  that  of  the  best  MSS. 
of  Lucian  ;  Sintricus  occurs  in  Ap- 
pian (1.  s.  c.)  Phlegon  gives  Sina- 
truces  (SivmrpovKj??). 

'  Or,  strictly  speaking,  seventy- 
nine  {oySorjKoaTov  iroi  yeyoviji.  Lu- 
cian, 1.  s.  c.) 


*  The  suspicion  arises  from  the 
fact  that,  like  Phraates  II.,  he 
takes  the  epiihet  of  fjf«-uruf>  upon 
his  coins,  which  implies  the  divi- 
nity of  his  father.  It  is  doubtful 
if  any  Parthian  moiiarrh  besides 
Mithridates  I.  had  yet  been  dei- 
fied. The  age  of  Sanatroeces 
is  suitable.  As  he  was  seventy- 
nine  in  B.C.  76,  he  must  have  been 
born  B.C.  155,  or  a'lout  twenty 
years  before  Mithridates  I.  died. 

'  Lucian,  1.  s.  c.  The  '  Sacau- 
racae '  are  not  otherwise  known, 
unless  we  regard  them  as  identical 
with  thcSacaiauli  (sui)ra,  p.  118). 


140  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [cil.  X. 

The  position  of  the  Empire  at  the  time  of  his 
accession  was  one  of  considerable  difficulty.  Parthia, 
during  the  period  of  her  civil  contentions,  had  lost 
much  ground  in  the  west,  having  been  deprived  by 
Tigranes  of  at  least  two  important  provinces.^  At  the 
same  time  she  had  been  witness  of  the  tremendous 
struoo-le  between  Rome  and  Pontus,  which,  commenced 
in  B.C.  88,  was  still  continuing,  and  still  far  from 
decided,  when  Sanatroeces  came  to  the  throne.  An 
octogenarian  monarch  was  unfit  to  engage  in  strife, 
and  if  Sanatroeces,  notwithstanding  this  drawback,  had 
been  ambitious  of  military  distinction,  it  would  have 
been  difficult  for  him  to  determine  into  which  scale 
the  interests  of  his  country  required  that  he  should  cast 
the  weight  of  his  sword.  On  the  one  hand,  Parthia 
had  evidently  much  to  fear  from  the  military  force  and 
the  covetous  disposition  of  Tigranes,  king  of  Armenia, 
the  son-in-law  of  Mithi-idates,  and  at  this  time  his  chosen 
ally.  Tigranes  had  hitherto  been  continually  increasing 
in  strength.  Ky  the  defeat  of  Artanes,~  king  of 
Sophene,  or  Armenia  Minor,  he  had  made  himself 
master  of  Armenia  in  its  widest  extent;  by  his  wars 
with  Parthia  herself,  he  had  acquired  Gordyene,  or 
Northern  Mesopotamia,  and  Adiabenc,  or  the  entire 
rich  tract  east  of  the  middle  Tigris  (including  Assyria 
Proper  and  Arbelitis,  as  fiir,  at  any  rate,  as  the  course 
of  the  lower  Zab;  ^  V>y  means  which  are  not  stated 
he  liad  brought  under  subjection  the  king  of  the 
important  country  of  Media  Atropatene,  independent 


'  Gordyc'nC  and  AdiahOnfi.  (See 
Pint.  LhcuU.  %  21  and  §  20.)  It 
is  uncertain  wliethcr  Media  Atro- 
patenC,  which  had  also  been  con- 
quered by  Tigranes  (Strab.   xi.   14, 


§   15  ;  Plut.  Lucull.  §  2G),  had  up    1.  s.  c. 


to  this  time  ever  formed  a  portion 
of  th"  Parthian    dominions.      Most 
probaltly  it  had  not. 
"  Str.ab.  xi.  14,  §  15. 
FMiitarch.    Lucull.   §  26;    Strab. 


CII.    X.]  CONTEMPORARY    POWER    OF   TIGRANES.  141 

since  the  time  of  Alexander.'  Invited  into  Syria,  about 
B.C.  83,  by  the  wretched  inhabitants,  wearied  with  the 
perpetual  civil  wars  between  princes  of  the  house  of 
the  Selencidse,  he  had  found  no  difficulty  in  establish- 
ing Jiimself  as  king  over  Cilicia,  Syria,  and  most  of 
Phoenicia.^  About  B.C.  80  he  had  determined  on 
building  himself  a. new  capital  in  the  province  of 
Gordyene,^  a  capital  of  a  vast  size,'*  provided  with  all 
the  luxuries  required  by  an  Oriental  court,^  and 
fortified  with  walls  which  recalled  the  glories  of  the 
ancient  cities  of  the  Assyrians.^  The  position  of  this 
huge  town  on  the  very  borders  of  the  Parthian  king- 
dom, in  a  province  which  had  till  very  recently  been 
Parthian,  could  be  no  otherwise  understood  than  as  a 
standing  menace  to  Parthia  itself,  the  proclamation  of 
an  intention  to  extend  the  Armenian  dominion  south- 
wai'ds,  and  to  absorb  at  any  rate  all  the  ridi  and 
fertile  country  betw^een  Gordyene  and  the  sea.  Thus 
threatened  by  Armenia,^  it  was  impossi])le  for  Sana- 
troeces  cordially  to  eml)i-ace  the  side  of  Mithridates,^ 


*  'TnrjKoov?  errxe  Kal  tov  'ATpn/iarTj- 
v6v  Kal  rdv  ro/)(hcuni'.  Strab.  1.  S.  C. 
Compare  Plut.  Lucull.  §§  2(5  and  27. 

'  Appian,  8i/r.  p.  133  ;  Pint. 
Lucull.  §  14;  Justin,  xl.  1  ;  Eutrop. 
vi.  8. 


Assyria,and  Adiabene  {Lucull.  §26). 
*  See  Appian,  Mithrid.  p.  229, 
A.  Krri  j-i.iniAtLa  Kal  nnpai^eiaovi 
Karu  TO  TTpodnrewv  inolei  /^UKpui)^,  Ka} 
KVVTjyeaia  tu/J.u  kuI  ^.ifivnr. 

Appian     says    the    walls   were 


'■^  The  exact   position  of  Tigrano-    seventy-five   feet    high   (ih.  p.  228, 
certa  is  unknown,   but  it  was  pro-    E).     The   lieight   of   those  seen  by 
bably    not    far    from    the    modern  |  Xenoplion   in   Assyria,    was  100  or 
Mardin.     (See   Strab.  xvi.   1,   §  23  ;  |  150  feet.     (Ai.ah.  in.  4,  ^  7-\].) 
Tac.  Ann.  xv.  5.)  j      '  A  threat  was  also  implied  in  the 

*  According  to  Strabo,  twelve  assumption  by  Tigranes  of  tive  title 
Greek  cities  were  depopulated  to  •  King  of  kinirs'  (Plut.  Lucrill. 
furnish  Tigranocerta  with  inhabit-  ^§  14  and  21),  hitherto  only  borne 
ants  (xi.  14,  §  1.5).  According  to  by  the  Paitliian  monarchs. 
Appian,  300,000  Cappadocians  were  *  One  of  the  predecessors  of 
transplanted  thither  {Mithrid.  p.  Sanatroeces  had,  it  would  seem, 
210,  C).  Plutarch  speaks  of  the  allied  himself  with  Mithridates 
population  as  having  been  drawn  about  B.C.  88  (.\ppian,  Mithr.  p. 
from  Cilicia,  Cappadocia,  Gordyen6,    180  C.  ;  Meninon,   Fr.  30,  |  3) ;  but 


142  THE    SIXTH    iMONAKCIIY.  [CH.    X. 

with  wliicli  Anneiiia  and  its  king  were  so  closely 
allied;  it  was  impossible  foi-  liiiii  even  to  wish  that 
the  two  allies  should  ])e  free  to  work  their  will  on  the 
Asiatic  continent  unchecked  by  the  power  which 
alone  had  for  the  last  twelve  yeai's  obstructed  their 
ambitious  projects. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  was  already  among  the 
Asiatic  princes  generally  a  deep  distrust  of  Rome^ — a 
fear  that  in  the  new  people,  which  had  crept  so  quietly 
into  Asia,  was  to  be  found  a  power  more  permanently 
formidable  than  the  Macedonians,  a  ])ower  which  wonld 
make  up  for  want  of  brilliancy  and  dash  by  a  dogged 
perseverance  in  its  aims,  and  a  stealthy,  crafty  policy, 
sure  in  the  end  to  achieve  great  and  striking  results. 
The  acccptanc^e  of  the  kingdom  of  Attains  had  not, 
perhaps,  alarmed  any  one ;  but  the  seizure  of  Phrygia 
during  the  minority  of  Mithridates,  without  so  much  as 
a  pretext,^  and  the  practice,  soon  afterwards  established, 
6^  setting  up  puppet  kings,^  bound  to  do  the  bidding 
of  theii'  Roman  allies,  had  raised  suspicions  ;  the  ease 
with  whicli  Mithridates,  notwithstanding  liis  great 
power  and  long  preparation,  had  been  vanquished  in 
the  first  war  (b.c.  88-84),  had  aroused  fears  ;  and  Sana- 
trceces  coidd  not  but  misdoubt  the  advisability  of  lend- 
ing aid  to  the  Komans,  and  so  helping  them  to  obtain  a 
still  firmer  hold  on  Western  Asia.  Accordingly  we 
find,  that  when  the  final  war  broke  out  in  b.c.  74,  his 
inclination  was,  in  the  first  instance,  to  stand  Avholly 
aloof,  and  when  that  became  impossible,  then  to  tempo- 


Pan  hia  floes  not  appear  to  have  ever 
lent  liim  any  aid. 

'  The  existence  of  these  feelings 
is  infli(;ate(l,  1,  by  the  s{)eech  whieh 
Troffiis  put  into  the  mouth  of 
jMithrirlates    (Justin,   xxxviii.  4-7)  ; 


and,     2,    by    the   allegc.1    loiter   of '  nia. 


Mithridates  to  the  Parthian  king. 
(Sallust,  Jlisf.  Rom.  \x.  Fr.  12.) 

*  Justin,  xxxviii.  5,  §  3  ;  Meranon, 
Fr.  30,  §  2. 

'  As  Aiiobarzancs  in  Cappadocia, 
and  the  third  Nicomedes  in  Bithy- 


Cir.   X.]       DIIEAD  OF  R03IE DEATH  OF  SAXATR(ECrS.       143 

rise.  To  the  application  for  assistance  made  by  Mith- 
ridates  in  B.C.  72,  a  direct  negative  was  returned  ;^  and 
it  was  not  until,  in  B.C.  69,  the  war  had  approached  his 
own  frontiei',  and  both  parties  made  the  most  earnest 
appeals  to  him  for  aid,  that  he  departed  from  the  line 
of  pure  abstention,  and  had  recourse  to  the  expedient 
of  amusing  both  sides  with  promises,  while  he  helped 
neither.^  According  to  Plutarch,  this  line  of  procedure 
offended  Lucullus,  and  had  nearly  induced  him  to  defer 
the  final  struo-ijrle  with  Mithridates  and  Tic^-anes,  and 
turn  his  arms  against  Parthia.^  But  the  prolonged 
resistance  of  Nisibis,  and  the  successes  of  Mithridates  in 
Pontus,  diverted  the  danger;  and  the  war  rolling  north- 
wards, Parthia  was  not  yet  driven  to  take  a  side,  Ijut 
was  enabled  to  maintain  her  neutral  position  for  some 
years  longer. 

Meanwhile  the  asjed  Sanatroeces  died*  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  son,  Phraates  III.  This  pi-ince  fol- 
lowed at  first  his  father's  example,  and  abstained  from 
mixing  himself  up  in  the  Mithridatic  war;  but  in  B.C. 
66,  being  courted  by  both  sides,  and  promised  the  re- 
storation of  the  provinces  lost  to  Tigranes,^  he  made 
alliance  with  Pompey,  and  undertook,  while  the  latter 
pressed  the  war  against  Mithridates,  to  find  occupation 
for  the  Armenian  monarch  in  his  own  land.     This  en- 


'  Memnon,  Fr.  43,  §>  2.  \      *  Appian,    p.  242,  E  ;  Dio  Cass. 

'  Appian,  Mithr.  p.  230,  D;  Dio  '  xxxvi.  28.  B. 
Cass.  XXXV.  1  and  3  ;  Memnon,  Fr.  j  s  Dio  Cass.  1.  s.  c.  'O  Un^-^ioi 
58,  §  2.  This  last  writer  calls  theN-,)^  (pumv  tu  ^padri^  i~l  Tolg  av- 
Parthian  monarch,  by  mistake,  ]  r  o  i  S  v-fwavverifjero.  This  can  only 
Phradates  (i.e.  Phraate').  It  is  !  mean  that  Pompey  and  Mithridates 
evident  from  Dio  Cass.  xxxv.  3,  !  offered  the  same  terms.  What 
compared  with  xxxvi.  28,  that  it  was  these  were  is  best  learnt  from 
Sanxtrocoes,  find  not  his  son.  Phra-  [  Memnon,  Fr.  58.  §  2  (du-peciJei-ero 
ales,  who  amused  Lucullus  and  Tznpnxupeiv  avTu  r^r  Mejo-ora/xiav  uai 
Mithridates  with  promises.  r?/i'  'A(ha37jv}/K  ku]   tovS  UeyuXovi  Av- 

'   Plut    Luciill.  §  30.  I  ?.umi). 


144 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY, 


[CH. 


X. 


gagemeiit  he  executed  \Yith  fidelity.  It  had  happened 
that  the  eldest  living  son  of'Iigranes,  a  prince  hearing 
the  same  name  as  his  fathei",  liavins^  raised  a  rebellion 
in  Armenia  and  been  defeated,  had  taken  i-efuge  in 
Parthia  with  Phraates.^  Phi'aates  determined  to  take 
advantaire  of  this  circumstance.  The  young;-  Ti2:ranes 
was  supported  hj  a  party  among  his  countrymen  who 
wished  to  see  a  youthful  monarch  npon  the  throne ;  and 
Phraates  therefore  considered  that  he  would  best  dis- 
charge his  obligations  to  the  Pomans  by  fomenting  this 
family  quarrel,  and  lending  a  moderate  support  to  the 
younger  Tigranes  against  his  father.  He  marched  an 
army  into  Armenia  in  the  interest  of  the  young  prince, 
overran  the  open  country,  and  advanced  on  Artaxata, 
the  capital.  Tigranes,  the  king,  fled  at  his  approach, 
and  betook  himself  to  the  nei2:hbourin52:  mountains. 
Artaxata  was  invested  ;  but  as  the  siege  promised  to 
be  long,  the  Parthian  monarch  after  a  time  withdrew, 
leaving  the  pretender  ^vith  as  many  troops  as  he  thought 
necessaiy  to  press  the  siege  to  a  successful  issue.  The 
result,  however,  disappointed  his  expectations.  Scarcely 
was  Phraates  gone,  ^vhen  the  old  king  fell  upon  his  son, 
defeated  him,  and  drove  liim  l)eyond  his  l)oi'ders.^ 
He  was  forced,  liowever,  soon  afterwards,  to  sui)mit 
to  Pompey,^  who,  while  the  civil  war  was  I'aging  in 
Armenia,  had  defeated  Mithridates  and  driven  him  to 
take  I'efuge  in  the  Tauric  Chersonese. 

Phraates,  no^v",  naturally  expected  the  due  reward 
of  his  services,  according  to  the  stipulations  of  his  agree- 
ment with  Pompey.  But  that  general  was  either 
dissatisfied  with  the  mode  in  which  the  Parthian  had 


'  Appian,    p.  242,   E;   Dio  Cass, 
xxxvi.  34,  C. 
^  Dio  Cass.  1.  s.  c. 


'  Dio     Cass,     xxxvi.    35 ;    App. 
uMithr.  p.  243,  B. 


Cir.  X.]       DEALINGS  OF  PIIRAATES  III.  WITH  POMPEY.       145 

discharged  his  obligations,  or  disinclined  to  sti'engthen 
the  power  which  he  saw  to  be  the  only  one  in  these 
parts  capable  of  disputing  with  Eome  the  headship  of 
Asia.  He  could  scarcely  prevent,  and  he  does  not  seem 
to  have  tried  to  prevent,  tlie  recovery  of  Adiabene  by 
the  Partliians ;  but  the  nearer  province  of  Gordyene, 
to  which  they  had  an  equal  claim,  he  would  by  no 
means  consent  to  their  occupying.  At  first  he  des- 
tined it  for  the  younger  Tigranes.^  When  that  prince 
offended  liim,  he  made  it  over  to  Ariobarzanes,  the 
Cappadocian  monarch."  That  arrangement  not  taking- 
effect,  and  the  tract  being  disputed  between  Phraates 
and  the  elder  Tigranes,  he  sent  his  legate,  Afranius,  to 
drive  the  Parthiansout  of  the  country,  and  delivered  it 
over  into  the  hands  of  the  Armenians.^  At  the  same  time 
he  insulted  the  Parthian  monarch  by  refusing  him  his 
generally  recognised  title  of  '  King  of  Kings.'  *  He 
thus  entirely  alienated  his  late  ally,  who  remonstrated 
against  the  injustice  with  which  he  was  treated,^  and 
^vas  only  deterred  from  declaring  war  by  the  whole- 
some fear  which  he  entertained  of  the  Poman  arms. 

Pompe}',  on  his  side,  no  doubt  took  the  question  into 
consideration,  whether  or  no  he  should  declare  the 
Parthian  prince  a  Poman  enemy,  and  proceed  to  direct 
against  him  the  available  forces  of  the  Empire.  He  had 
purposely  made  him  hostile,  and  compelled  him  to  take 
steps  which  might  have  furnished  a  plausible  casushelli. 
But,  on  the  whole,  he  found  that  he  was  not  prepared 


'  Appian,  Mith:  p.  243,  C. 

'  Ibid.  p.  243,  E. 

'  Pint.  Pomp.  §  36 ;  Dio  Cass, 
xxxvii.  5,  C. 

*  Plut.  Pomp.  §  38;  Dio  Cass. 
xxxvii.  6. 


navra  oaa  Ti<yiKrjTo  iizEKa2.Ei  o'l — and 
again,  finajleii  re  avdii  tt^oS  avrov 
cnzeaTEU.e  koI  noXhl  niv  rov  Tiypuvov 
KaTTjyoiiTjae.  tto/'./u  61  Kal  £5  roj'S 
'Pcj/jininvi  vTTEif/fiTjvev.  Tliis  writer' 
evidently    feels  the    injustice   with 


Dio  Cass.  1.  s.  c.  -if/rj>ai  -piaiSeii    which  Phraates  was  treated. 


146  THE    SIXTH    iMONAIiCIir.  [cH.    X. 

to  ventiii'e  on  the  encounter.  The  war  liad  not  been 
formally  committed  to  liim  ;  and  if  he  did  not  prosper 
in  it,  he  dreaded  the  accusations  of  his  enemies  at  Home. 
He  had  seen,  moreover,  with  his  own  eyes,  that  the 
Parthians  were  an  enemy  far  from  despicable,  and  his 
knowledge  of  campaigning  told  him  that  success  against 
them  was  not  certain.  He  feared  to  risk  the  loss  of  all 
the  glory  which  he  had  obtained  by  grasping  greedily 
at  more,  and  pi'eferi-ed  enjoying  the  fruits  of  the  good 
luck  which  had  hitherto  attended  him  to  tempting 
fortune  on  a  new  field. ^  He  therefore  determined  that 
he  would  not  allow  himself  to  be  provoked  into  hostili- 
ties by  the  reproaches,  the  dictatorial  words,  or  even 
the  daring  acts  of  the  Parthian  King.  When  Phraates 
demanded  his  lost  provinces,  he  replied,  that  the  ques- 
tion of  borders  was  one  which  la}^^  not  between  Parthia 
and  Kome,  but  between  Parthia  and  Armenia.^  When 
he  laid  it  down  that  the  Euphrates  properly  bouncied 
the  Roman  teri-itory,  and  charged  Pompeynot  to  cross 
it,  the  latter  said  he  would  keep  to  the  just  i)ounds, 
whatever  they  were.^  A¥hen  Tigranes  comj)lained  that 
after  havinsr  been  received  into  the  lioman  alliance  he 
was  still  attacked  l)y  the  Parthian  armies,  the  reply  of 
Pompey  was  that  he  was  willing  to  appoint  arbitrators 
who  should  decide  all  the  disputes  between  the  two 
nations.'*  The  moderation  and  caution  of  these  answers 
proved  contagious.  The  monarchs  addressed  resolved 
to  compose  their  differences,  or  at  any  rate  to  defer  the 
settlement  of  them  to  a  more  convenient  time.     The}' 


'  Soc  the  account  wliich  Dio  gives  I  Plutarch  {Pomp  ?  83,  ad  Jin.)  re- 
of  Ponipey's  motives  (xxxvii.   7).        cord     Phraates'    detnand,    bui,   tho 

*  <^r/Tai  vnip  oplov  tivi',)v  rrjv  (haipn-  latter  alonc  gives  Pompey's  reply — 
puv  nvT(')  TpoS  Tov  Tiyix'ii'Ti  elnii.      (Dio    ofx.)  xp'/ct-nOni  ru  dmaiu. 

Cass,  xxxvii.  7,  D.)  ]      '  I'hit.    Pomp.   §  39;   Dio   Cass. 

'  iJolh    Dio    (xxxvii    6)    A.    and    xxxvii.  7,  D. 


CII.    X.]  REIGN    OF    MITIIRIDATES    III.  147 

accepted  Pompey's  proposal  of  an  arbitration  ;  and  in  a 
short  time  an  arrangement  was  effected  by  which  rela- 
tions of  amity  were  re-established  between  the  two 
countries.^ 

It  would  seem  that  not  very  long  after  the  conclusion 
of  this  peace  and  the  retirement  of  Pompey  from  Asia 
(b.c.  62),  Phraates  lost  his  life.  He  was  assassinated 
by  his  two  sons,  Mithridates  and  Orodes ;  ^  for  what 
cause  we  are  not  told.  Mithridates,  the  elder  of  the 
two,  succeeded  him  (about  b.c.  60)  ;  and,  as  all  fear  of 
the  Romans  had  now  passed  away  in  conse(|uence  of 
their  apparently  peaceful  attitude,  he  returned  soon 
after  his  accession  to  the  policy  of  his  namesake,  Mith- 
ridates II.,  and  resuuied  the  struggle  with  Armenia 
from  which  his  Either  had  desisted."^  The  object  of  the 
war  was  probably  the  recovery  of  the  lost  province  of 
Gordyene,  which,  having  been  delivered  to  the  elder 
Tigranes  by  Pompey,  had  remained  in  the  occupation  of 
the  Armenians  Mithridates  seems  to  have  succeeded 
in  his  enterprise.  When  we  next  obtain  a  distinct  view 
of  the  boundary  line  which  divides  Parthia  fi'om  her 
neighbours  towards  the  noi'tli  and  the  north-west,  which 
is  within  five  years  of  the  probable  date  of  Mithridates' 
accession,  we  find  Gordyene  once  more  a  Parthian  pro- 
vince."*  As  the  later  years  of  this  intermediate  lustre 
are  a  timt;  of  civil  strife,  during  which  teri-itorial  gains 
can  scarcely  have  been  made,  we  are  compelled  to  refer 


'  Dio   Cass,   "{xxvii.    7.      Eu  vm- 


oravTo   niitpoTep'ji,  says   Dio,  on  oird-    were    engaged    in    Armenian     wars 


Tepoi  uv  avT(I)v  roi  hipov  KpaTijotie, 
TL)V  re  Tvpay^iuTov  roi;  'Pufiaioii  npo- 
OKoxpei  (li'jr.  irpoKotpEi),  Ko^  avrui  evx^i- 
puTepoi  o<})im  yevTjeierai.  'Ekeivoi  jmIv 
6r)  6ia  ravra  Knrji/JiiiyTjaav. 

"  Ibid,  xxxix.  56. 

"Justin,    xlii.    4,   f   1.     The   fact 


that  both  Mithridates  IT.   and  III. 


seems  to  have  been  among  the 
reasons  of  Justin's  confusing  them. 
■*  This  was  clearly  the  case  at 
the  time  of  the  invasion  of  Crassus, 
when  the  Parthians  were  masters- 
of  the  whole  of  Mesopotamia  as  far 
as  the  Euphrates. 


148 


THE    SIXTH.    MONAECIIY. 


[CIL  X. 


the  conquest  to  about  B.C.  59-57.  But  in  this  case  it 
must  have  been  due  to  Mithridates  III.,  whose  reign  is 
fixed  with  much  probability  to  the  ^^ears  n.c.  60-56. 

The  credit  which  Mithridates  had  acquired  by  his 
conduct  of  the  Armenian  war,  he  lost  soon  afterwards 
by  the  severity  of  his  home  administration.  Tliere  is 
reason  to  believe  that  he  drove  his  brotln^r,  Orodes,  into 
banishment.^  At  any  rate,  he  ruled  so  harshly  and 
cruelly  that  within  a  few  years  of  his  accession  the 
Pai'thian  nobles  deposed  him,~  and  recalling  Orodes 
from  his  place  of  exile,  set  him  up  as  king  in  his 
brother's  room.  Mithridates  was,  it  ^vould  seem,  at 
first  allowed  to  govern  Media  as  a  subject  monarch ; 
but  after  a  while  his  brother  grew  jealous  of  him,  and 
deprived  him  of  this  dignity.^  Unwilling  to  acquiesce 
in  his  disgrace,  Mithridates  fled  to  the  Romans,  and 
being  favourably  received  by  Gabinius,  then  proconsul 
of  Syria,  endeavoured  to  obtain  his  aid  against  his 
countrymen.  Gabinius,  wdio  was  at  once  weak  and 
ambitious,  lent  a  ready  ear  to  his  entreaties,  and  was 
upon  the  point  of  conducting  an  expedition  into  Par- 
thia^  when  he  received  a  still  more  tempting  invitation 
from  another  quarter.^  Ptolemy  Auletes,  expelled  from 
Egypt  by  his  rebellious  subjects,  asked  his  aid,  and 
having  recommendations  from  Pom[)ey,  and  a  fair  sum  of 
ready  money  to  disburse,  found  little  difficulty  in  per- 
suading the  Syrian  proconsul  to  relinquish  his  Parthian 
plans  and  march  the  force  at  his  disposal  into  Egypt. 
Mithridates,  upon  this,  withdrew  from  Syiia,  and  re-en- 


'  Plutarch  tells  na  that  (lie  Par- 
tliian  {general  who  defeated  Orassus 
had  previously  broujrht  back  Orodes 
from  banishiMcnt  (  Vit.  Cmsx.  §  21). 
Appian  follows  hirn  (Parth.  p.  141, 
A). 

"Justin,  1.  s.  c.    'Propter  crudeli- 


tatcm  a  senatu   Parthico  regno  pel- 
litur.' 

=  Dio  Cass,  xxxix.  56.     MiOpuViTtiv 

*  App.  Syriac.  p.  120,  A  ;  Parthic 
p.  \U,  A. 


Clio    X.]  HIS    CIVIL    WAE    WITH    ORODES.  149 

tering  the  Pai'tliian  territory,  commenced  a  civil  war 
against  his  Ijrother,  finding  numerous  partisans,  espe- 
cially in  the  region  about  Babylon.^  It  maybe  suspected 
that  Seleucia,  the  second  city  in  the  Empire,  embraced 
his  cause.^  Babylon,  into  which  he  had  thrown  him- 
self, sustained  a  long  siege  on  his  behalf,  and  only 
yielded  when  compelled  by  famine.^  Mithridates  might 
again  have  become  a  fugitive  ;  but  he  was  weary  of  the 
disappointments  and  hardships  which  are  the  ordinary 
lot  of  a  pretender,  and  preferred  to  cast  himself  on  tlie 
mercy  and  affection  of  his  brother.  Accordingly  he 
surrendered  himself  unconditionally  to  Orodes  ;  but 
this  prince,  professing  to  place  the  claims  of -patriotism 
above  those  of  relationship,'*  caused  the  traitor  who  had 
sought  aid  from  Rome  to  be  instantly  executed.  Thus 
perished  Mithridates  III.  after  a  reign  which  cannot 
have  exceeded  five  years,  in  the  winter  of  b.c.  56,  or 
the  early  spring  of  b.c.  55.  Orodes,  on  his  death,  was 
accepted  as  king  by  the  whole  nation. 


'  Justiu.  xlii.  4,  §  2.  ^  positively.      {Rom.    Geschichte,   vol. 

^  That  Seleucia  had  been  in  re-  j  iii.  p.  333.) 
bellion  against  Orodes  before  b.c.  'Justin  incorrectly  says.  '■  Bdby- 
54,  and  had  been  recovered  for  him  loniam,  quo  Mithridates  confugerat, 
by  the  general  whom  he  employed  diu  oljsidet,  et  fame  coactos  in  de- 
against  Crassus,  is  related  b}'  Plu-  ditionem  oppidanos  compellit.'  (1.  s. 
tarch  (Crass.  §  21).  It  is  reason-  c.)  But  it  is  evident  that  the  town, 
able  to  connect  this  rebellion  with  Babylon  ('Babyloneni '),  is  intended, 
the  civil  war  between  the  brothers.  *  "Plus  hostem  quaui  fratrem 
Moramsen.   however,    does    so    too   cogitans,'     (Justin,  xlii.  4,  §  4.) 


150 


THE    SIXTH    MONAECHY. 


[CH.  XI. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Accession  of  Orodes  I.  Exjjeditwn  of  Crassus.  His  fate.  Retaliatory 
inroad  of  the  Parthians  into  Syria  under  Pacoriis,  the  son  of  Orodes. 
Defeat  of  Pacorus  l)y  Cassias.  His  recall.  End  of  fYst  War  tcith 
Rome. 

'  Parthi  ...  a  Romanis,  bellis  per  maximos  duces  florentissimis  temporibus 
lacessili,  soli  ex  omnibus  gentibus  non  pares  solum,  sed  etiam  victores  fuere.' 

Justin,  xli.  1,  §  7. 

The  complete  triumph  of  Orodes  over  Mithridates,  aud 
his  full  establishment  in  his  kingdom,  cannot  be  placed 
earlier  than  b.c.  5G,  and  most  probably  fell  in  b.c.  55.^ 
In  this  latter  year  Crassus  obtained  the  consulship  at 
Kome,  and,  being  appointed  at  the  same  time  to  the 
command  of  the  East,"  made  no  secret  of  his  intention 
to  march  the  Roman  legions  across  the  Euphrates,  and 
engage  in  hostilities  with  the  great  Parthian  kingdom.^ 
According  to  some  writers,  his  views  extended  even 
further.  He  spoke  of  the  wars  which  Lucullus  had 
waged  against  Tigranes  and  Pompey  against  Mithri- 
dates of  Pontus  as  mere  child's  play,  and  announced 
his  intention  of  carrying  the  Roman  arms  to  Bactria, 
India,  and  the  Eastern  Ocean.'*  The  Parthian  king  was 


'  r!a>)iniuR,  to  whom  Mithridates 
fled,  was  not  proconsul  of  ,S\  ria  till 
B.C.  5Q,  and  Mitlirid.itcs  tliorcfore 
cannot  have  a])[)iic(l  to  liiin  till  tliut 
year.  As  the  civil  war  followed 
on  this  application,  and  the  siege  of 
Bahylon  is  expressly  said  to  have 
occupied  a  lonj^  time  (Justin), 
Mithridates  can  scarcely  have  suh- 
niitted  until  B.C.  55. 


'  Liv.  Epit.  cv. ;  Diu  Cass,  xxsix. 
33 

»  Pint.  Crass.  §  IG. 

^  Ihid.  'iif  nauhav  (i7ro<pavuv  to. 
AoiiKov?i?iov  TTpdS  TiypdvT]v  Kal  Ho^- 
TTTjiov  npoS  Mi(//Jif5nr»/i',  uxpi  BaKTpiuv 
Kn),  'IvtJuv  KCil  Tiji  t^u  Oa'AuaoT}^  av>/- 
yev  tavrbv  Tali  eTnriai.  Compare 
A  pp.  Parth.  p.  135,  C. 


CII.    XI.]  ACCESSION    OF    OEODES    I.  151 

thus  warned  V)etinies  of  the  impending  danger,  and 
enabled  to  make  all  such  prejiarations  against  it  as  he 
deemed  necessary.  More  than  a  year  elapsed  between 
the  assignment  to  Crassus  of  Syria  as  his  province,  and 
his  first  overt  act  of  hostility  against  Orodes. 

It  cannot  be  doul>ted  that  this  breathino--time  was 
well  spent  by  the  Parthian  monarch.  Besides  forming 
his  general  plan  of  campaign  at  his  leisure,  and  collect- 
fng,  arming,  and  exercising  his  native  forces,  he  was 
enabled  to  gain  over  certain  chiefs  upon  his  borders, 
who  had  hitherto  held  a  serai-dependent  position,  and 
might  have  been  expected  to  welcome  the  Romans. 
One  of  these,  Abgarus,^  prince  of  Osrhoene,  or  the 
tract  east  of  the  Euphrates  about  the  city  of  Edessa, 
had  been  received  into  the  Roman  alliance  by  Pompey, 
but,  with  the  fickleness  common  among  Orientals,  he 
now  readily  changed  sides,  and  undertook  to  play 
a  doul)le  part  for  the  advantage  of  the  Parthians.^ 
Another,  Alchaudonius,  an  Arab  sheikh  of  these  parts, 
had  made  his  submission  to  Rome  even  earlier;^  but 
havinQ;l)ecome  convinced  that  Parthia  was  the  strons^er 
power  of  the  two,  he  also  went  over  to  Orodes.*  The 
importance  of  these  adhesions  would  depend  greatly 
on  the  line  of  march  which  Crassus  might  determine  to 
follow  in  making  his  attack.  Three  j)lans  were  open 
to  him.  He  might  either  throw  himself  on  the  support 
of  Artavasdes,  the  Armenian  monarch,  who  had  recently 
succeeded  his  father  Tio:ranes,  and  enterino-  Armenia, 
take  the  safe  but  circuitous  route  through  the  moun- 


'  The  naine  is  given  variously,  ■  All  the  princes  of  Edessa  seem  to 
as  Abgarus,  Acl)aru3,  and  Avgarus  have  been  called  either  Abgarus  or 
(Avynpor) ;    but  the  first  form  is  the   Mannus. 

onl}'  one  used    upon    the   coins   of ;      -  Dio  Cass.  xl.   20  ;  App.  Parlh. 
Edessa.       Otherwise   the  form    Ac-    p.  14i%  A. 
barus  might  seem  preferable,  as  the        ^  Dio  Cass.  xxxv.  2,  ml  fin. 
representative  of  the  Arabic  Akbar.  :      *  Ibid.  xl.  20. 


152 


THE    SIXTH    IMOJS^ARCHY. 


[CH.    XI 


tains  into  Adlabeue,  and  so  by  the  left  bank  of  tlie 
Tigris  to  Ctesiphon  ;  or  he  might,  like  the  younger 
Cyrus,  follo^v  the  course  of  the  Euphrates  to  the  lati- 
tude of  Seleucia,  and  then  cross  the  narrow  tract  of 
plain  which  there  separates  the  two  rivers;  or,  finally, 
he  might  attempt  the  shortest  but  most  dangerous  .Une 
across  the  Belik  and  Khabour,  and  directly  through  the 
Mesofiotamian  desert.  If  the  Armenian  route  were 
preferred,  neither  Abgarus  nor  Alchaudonius  would  be 
able  to  do  the  Parthians  much  service  ;  but  if  Crassus 
resolved  on  following  either  of  the  others,  their  alliance 
could  not  but  be  most  valuable. 

Crassus,  however,  on  reaching  his  province,  seemed 
in  no  haste  to  make  a  decision.  He  must  have  arrived 
in  Syria  tolerably  early  in  the  spring;^  but  liis  opera- 
tions during  the  first  year  of  his  proconsulship  were 
unimportant.  He  seems  at  once  to  have  made  up  his 
mind  to  attempt  nothing  more  than  a  reconnaissance. 
Crossing  the  Eupli rates  at  Zeugma,  the  modern  Bir  or 
Bh'eh-jik,  he  proceeded  to  ravage  the  open  country,  and 
to  receive  the  submission  of  the  Greek  cities,  which 
were  numerous  throucrhout  the  res^ion  between  the 
Euphrates  and  the  Belik.^  The  country  was  defended 
by  the  Parthian  satrap  with  a  small  force  ;  buttliis  was 
easily  defeated,  the  satrap  himself  receiving  a  wound.^ 


'  Crassus  left  T?ome  in  the  year 
of  his  consulship  B.C.  65,  later 
than  Nov.  15  fOic.  Ep.  ad  Att. 
iv.  13).  lie  took  ship  from  Brun- 
dusiiim  ])t'fore  tiie  storms  of  winter 
were  ovor  (Phit,  Ci-nxn.  §  17),  pio- 
ceedc'l  to  .Asia  Minor,  and  marched 
rapidly  tlirouj:,h  Galatia  (r/rrsiyETo 
6id  Vahirifi?^  l/,,)  into  Syria,  where 
ho  must  h;ive  arrived  as  early  as 
April  or  May.  Mommscn,  how- 
ever, ovirstites  the  case,  when 
he  makes  him  reach  Syria  'at  the 


very  beginning  of  700'  (bereits 
Anfang  700). 

"^  Dio  Cass.  xl.  13.  Compare 
Isid.  Char.  Mrmn.  Pnrth.  §  1.  The 
chief  of  these  cities  were  Apamciii, 
Antliemusias  or  Charax  Sida',  Ich- 
nae,  and  Nicephorium. 

*  Dio  Cass.  xl.  12.  This  engage- 
ment took  phice  near  Ichnju,  which 
was  on  the  Belik,  about  seventeen 
miles  north  of  Rakkah  (Nicepho- 
rium). 


CH.    XI.]         FIKST    IXYASIOX    OF    CKASSUS,  B.C.    54.  153 

One  Greek  city  only,  Zenoclotium,  offered  resistance  to 
the  invader;  its  inhabitants  having  requested  and 
received  a  Roman  garrison  of  one  hundred  men,  rose 
upon  them  and  put  them  harLarously  to  the  sword  ; 
Avhereupon  Crassus  besieged  and  took  the  place,  gave 
it  up  to  his  army  to  plunder,  and  sold  the  entire  popu- 
lation for  slaves.^  He  then,  as  winter  drew  near,  deter- 
mined to  withdraw  into  Syria,  leaving  garrisons  in  the 
various  towns.  The  entire  force  left  behind  is  estimated 
at  eio:ht  thousand  men.^ 

It  is  probable  that  Orodes  had  expected  a  more 
determined  attack,  and  had  retained  his  army  near  his 
capital  until  it  should  become  evident  by  which  route 
the  enemy  would  advance  against  him.  Acting  on  an 
inner  circle,  he  could  readily  have  interposed  his  forces, 
on  whichever  line  the  assailants  threw  themselves.  But 
the  tardy  proceedings  of  his  antagonist  made  his  caution 
superfluous.  The  first  campaign  was  over,  and  there 
had  scarcely  been  a  collision  between  the  troops  of  the 
two  nations.  Parthia  had  been  insulted  by  a  wanton 
attack,  and  had  lost  some  disaffected  cities ;  but  no 
attempt  had  been  made  to  fulfil  the  grand  boasts  with 
which  the  war  had  been  undertaken. 

It  may  he  suspected  that  the  Parthian  monarch 
began  now  to  despise  his  enemy.  He  would  compare 
him  with  Lucullus  and  Pompey,  and  undei'stand  that 
a  Koman  army,  like  any  other,  was  formidable,  or  the 
reverse,  according  as  it  was  ably  or  feebly  commanded. 
He  would  know  that  Crassus  was  a  sexagenarian,  and 
may  have  heard  that  he  had  never  yet  shown  himself 
a  caj)taln  or  even  a  soldier.  Perhaps  he  almost 
doubted  whether  the  proconsul  had  any  leal  intention 

'  Plut.     Crass.    §    IT;    Dio    Cass.  I      ^  Seven     thou-aml     foot     and    a 
si  13.  'thousand  horse.      ^Plut.  i.  s.  c.) 


154 


THE    SIXTH    MOKAKCHY. 


[on.   XL 


of  pressing  tLe  contest  to  a  decision,  and  niiglit  not 
rather  be  expected,  when  he  had  enriched  himself  and 
his  trooj^s  with  Mesopotamian  plunder,  to  withdraw 
his  garrisons  across  the  Euphrates.  Crassus  was  at 
this  time  showing  the  worst  side  of  his  character  in 
Syria,  despoiling  temples  of  tlieir  treasures,^  and 
accepting  money  in  lieu  of  contingents  of  troops  from 
the  dynasts  of  Syria  and  Palestine.^  Orodes,  under 
these  circumstances,  sent  an  embassy  to  him,  which 
was  well  calculated  to  stir  to  action  the  most  slug-o-ish 
and  poor-spirited  of  commanders.  '  If  the  war,'  said 
Lis  envoys,  '  was  really  waged  by  Rome,  it  must  be 
fought  out  to  the  bitter  end.  But  if,  as  they  had 
good  reason  to  believe,^  Crassus,  against  the  wish  of 
his  country,  had  attacked  Parthia  and  seized  her 
territory  for  his  own  private  gain,  Arsaces  would  be 
moderate.  He  would  liave  ]jity  on  the  advanced  years 
of  the  iwoconHid^  and  would  give  the  Romans  back 
those  men  of  theirs,  who  were  not  so  much  keeping 
watch  in  Mesopotamia,  as  having  watch  ke])t  on  them.' 
Crassus,  stung  with  the  taunt,  exclaimed,  '  He  would 
return  the  am})assadoi's  an  answer  at  Seleucia.'  Wa- 
gises,  the  chief  anil)assador,  ])i-epared  for  some  such 
exhiljition  of  feeling,  and  glad  to  heap  taunt  on  taunt, 
replied,  striking  the  palm  of  one  hand  with  the  fingers 
of  the  other  :  '  Hairs  Avill  grow  here,  Crassus,  before 
you  see  Seleucia.''* 


'  It  IS  certain  tliat  Crassus  plun- 
dered the  ancient  shrine  of  Atarj^a- 
tis  or  Derceto  at  Ilierapolis  (I'lut. 
O/vm.  ij  17;  App.  Pakh.  p.  137, 
B).  Accordinp;  to  Joseplius  {Ant. 
Jnd.  xiv.  7,  «>  1),  he  also  made  a 
journey  to  Jerusalem  for  the  px- 
jtress  purpose  of  ])lun(lering  the 
Jewish  'I'einple.  (Compare  Oro- 
sius,  vi.  13.) 


nreiai?  arpnTiuruv  Kara^^yov?,  elr' 
avietiapyvptnv  ihthvraS.  (Plut.  Crass. 
1.  s.  c.) 

'  The  intention  of  Crassus  to 
attack  the  Parthians  was  well 
known  at  Rome,  and  w.is  opposed 
by  a,  powerful  party.  (See  Plut. 
Crass.  §  16;  Cic.  Ej).  ad  3ii).  v.  8; 
&c.) 

'  Plut.  Crass.  §  18 ;  Dio  Cass, 
xl.  16. 


CH.    Xr.]         SECOND  INVASION  OF  CRASSUS,  B.C.  53.  155 

Still  further  to  quicken  the  action  of  the  Romans, 
before  the  winter  was  well  over,  the  offensive  was 
taken  against  their  adherents  in  Mesopotamia.  The 
towns  wliich  held  Roman  garrisons  were  attacked  by 
the  Parthians  in  force ;  and,  though  we  do  not  hear  of 
any  T)eing  captured,  all  of  them  were  menaced,  and  all 
suffered  considerably.^ 

If  Crassus  needed  to  be  stimulated,  these  stimulants 
were  effective ;  and  he  entered  on  his  second  campaign 
with  a  full  determination  to  compel  the  Parthian 
monarch  to  an  engagement,  and,  if  possible,  to  dictate 
peace  to  him  at  his  capital.  He  had  not,  however, 
in  his  second  campaign,  the  same  freedom  with  regard 
to  his  movements  that  he  had  enjoyed  the  year  previous. 
The  occupation  of  Western  Mesopotamia  cramped  his 
choice.  It  had,  in  fact,  compelled  him  before  quitting 
Syria  to  decline,  definitely  and  decidedly,  the  over- 
tures of  Artavasdes,  Avho  strongly  urged  on  him  to 
advance  by  way  of  Armenia,  and  promised  him  in 
that  case  an  important  addition  to  his  forces.^  Crassus 
felt  himself  compelled  to  support  his  garrisons,  and 
therefore  to  make  Mesopotamia,  and  not  Armenia,  the 
basis  of  his  operations.  He  crossed  the  Euphrates 
a  second  time  at  the  same  point   as  before,'^  with  an 

'  Dean    Merivale  speaks  of  some  -  Artavasdes  offered  a  contingent 

of  the   Roman  dcta-^-hments  in  Me-  of  30,000  f o  H  and  l(i.  OdO  horse,  of 

sopolamii  as  '  compelled  to  abandon  whom     10,000     should     be    iieavily 

their  post-;'   {U'lniiii  E'/ft/)i)-e,  vol.  ii.  armed.     Crassus    replied    'that    his 

p.  llj ;  but  I  find  no  such  statement  march    would    lie    throiigli   Mesopo- 

in  the  authorities.      Dio  says  that  a  tamia,  a>i  lie  had  left  there  many  good 

Parthian  army  was  sent  against  the  soldiers.''     (Pint.  1.  s.  c.) 

places  th  it  had  b'jea  taken  and  those  I      *  This    point,    as    already  stated, 

that  ha  1  fallen  nwny  (1.  s.  c.)  ;  Plu-  |  was    probably    the    modern    Bir,   or 

tarch  adds  thit  attacks  and  combats  Bireh-jik,    which    best    an-^wers    on 

took  place,  ami  tliat  someof  the  sol-  the  whole  to  the  Roman  'Zeugma.' 

diers  in  garrison,  escajiing  from  the  (See  the  note  of  C.  Miiller  on  Isid. 

beleaguered  towns,  brought  Cra<sus  Char.    .Vitus.   Parth.  ?  1.)     It  is  not 

an  exaggerated  account  of  the  dif-  to  be    confounded  witli    Riim-lnleh 

ficulties  of  Parthian  warfare  (I.  s.  c;  (twenty  six    miles    higher    up    the 


156  THE    SIXTH    MONAKCIIV.  [ciI.  XL 

army  composed  of  35,000  heavy  iiifaiitiy,  4,000  ligbt 
infantry,  and  4,000  horse.^  There  was  still  open  to 
him  a  certain  choice  of  routes.  The  one  preferred  by 
his  chief  officers  was  the  line  of  the  Euphrates,  known 
as  that  which  the  Ten  Thousand  had  pursued  in  an 
expedition  that  would  have  been  successful  but  for  the 
death  of  its  commander.  Along  this  line  water  would 
be  plentiful  ;  forage  and  other  supplies  might  be 
counted  on  to  a  certain  extent;  and  the  advancing 
army,  resting  on  the  river,  could  not  be  surrounded.^ 
Another,  but  one  that  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
suggested  till  too  late,^  was  that  which  Alexander  had 
taken  against  Darius;"*  the  line  along  the  foot  of  the 
Mons  Masius,  by  Edessa,  and  Nisibis,  to  Nineveh. 
Here  too  water  and  supplies  would  have  been  readily 
j)rocurable,  and  by  clinging  to  the  skii-ts  of  the  hills 
the  Konian  infantry  would  have  set  the  Parthian 
cavalry  at  defiance.  Between  these  two  extreme 
courses  to  the  right  and  to  the  left,  were  numerous 
slightly  divergent  lines  across  the  Mesopotamian  plain, 
all  shorter  than  either  of  the  two  above-mentioned, 
and  none  offering  any  great  advantage  over  the  re- 
mainder. 

It  is  uncertain  what  choice  the  proconsul  would 
have  made,  had  the  decision  l)een  left  simply  to  his 
own  judgment.  Probably  the  Romans  had  a  most 
dim    and    indistinct    conception    of    the    geographical 


river),  nor  witii  Thapsacus  (160 
miles  lower  down),  where  Alexan- 
der crossed.  Dio  (xl.  17)  has  mis- 
led Dean  Merivale.  {It.  E.  vol.  ii. 
p.  1:5,  note.) 

'  Plut.     GraHH.  §   20.     The    seven 
legions    of  this  writer  may  he  esti- 
mated rouf^hly  at  ;}5,000  footmen,  j  to  have  suggested  this  route 
Florus    (iii.    11)   raises  the  number  I      ■•  Arrian,  Exp.  Alex.  ill.  7. 


of  legions  to  eleven,  and  Appian 
Bell.  Civ.  iii.  18)  makes  the  entire 
force  amount  to  lOo, dOO  men. 

^  'hfia  (bv'knKn  tov  fiij  kvicAuOF/vui 
Tuv  ■nuTd.fx'jv  cxoi'Tui.  (Plut.  Ora.ss. 
1.  s.  c) 

Ibid.  §  22.     ArtavMsdes  is  said 


CII.  XI.]  HE    ADVANCES    ACROSS    MES0P0TA3IIA.  157 

character  of  the  Mesopotamian  region,  and  were  igno- 
rant of  its  great  difficulties.  They  remained  also, 
it  must  be  remembered,  up  to  this  time,  absolutely 
unacquainted  with  the  Parthian  tactics,  and  accustomed 
as  they  were  to  triumph  ov^er  every  enemy  against 
whom  they  fouj^ht,  it  would  scarcely  occur  to  them 
that  in  an  open  held  they  could  suffer  defeat.  They 
w^ere  ready,  like  Alexander,  to  encounter  any  number 
of  Asiatics,  and  only  asked  to  be  led  against  the  foe 
as  cpiickly  as  possible.  When,  therefore,  Abgarus, 
the  Osrhoene  prince,  soon  after  Crassus  had  crossed 
the  Euphrates,  rode  into  his  camp,  and  declared  that 
the  Parthians  did  not  intend  to  make  a  stand,  but 
were  quitting  Mesopotamia  and  tlyiug  with  their  trea- 
sures to  the  remote  regions  of  Hyrcania  and  Scythia, 
leaving  only  a  rear  guard  under  a  couple  of  generals 
to  coVer  the  retreat,^  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  resolu- 
tion was  taken  to  give  up  the  circuitous  route  of  the 
Euphrates,  and  to  march  directly  across  Mesopotamia 
in  the  hope  of  crushing  the  covering  detachment,  and 
coming  upon  the  flying  multitude  encumbered  w^ith 
baggage,  w^hich  would  furnish  a  rich  spoil  to  the 
victors.  In  after  times  it  w^as  said  that  C  Cassius 
Longinus  and  some  other  oflicers  were  opposed  to 
this  movement,^  and  foresaw  its  danger ;  but  it  may 
be  questioned  wdiether  the  whole  army  did  not  readily 
obey  its  leader's  order,  and  commence  without  any 
forebodings  its  march  through  Uppei'  Mesopotamia. 
That  region  has  not  really  the  character  which  the 
apologists  for  Eoman  disaster  in  later  times  gave 
to  it.  It  is  a  region  of  swelling  hills,  and  some^\■hat 
dry  gravelly  plains.     It  possesses  several  streams  and 


■  Pint.  Crass.  §  21.  |       '  Ibid.  §  20  and  §  22. 


158 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.  XI. 


rivers,  besides  numerous  springs.^  At  intervals  of  a 
few  miles  it  was  studded  with  cities  and  villages ;  ^ 
nor  did  the  desert  really  begin  until  the  Khabour 
was  crossed.  The  army  of  Crassus  had  traversed  it 
throughout  its  whole  extent  during  the  summer  of  the 
preceding  year,  and  must  have  been  well  acquainted 
with  both  its  advautag:es  and  its  drawbacks. 

But  it  is  time  that  we  should  consider  what  pre- 
parations the  Parthian  monarch  had  made  against  the 
threatened  attack.  He  had,  as  already  stated,  come 
to  terms  with  his  outlying  vassals,  the  prince  of 
Osrhoene,  and  the  sheikh  of  the  Scenite  Arabs,  and 
had  engaged  especially  the  services  of  the  former 
against  his  assailant.  He  had  further,  on  considering 
the  various  possibilities  of  the  canipaign,  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  would  be  best  to  divide  his  forces,  and, 
while  himself  attacking  Artavasdes  in  the  mountaiil  fast- 
nesses of  his  own  country,  to  conmiit  the  task  of  meeting 
and  coping  with  the  E-omans  to  a  general  of  a|>proved 
talents.^  It  was  of  the  gi-eatest  importance  to  })revent 
the  Armenians  from  effecting  a  junction  with  the 
Romans,  and  strengtliening  them  in  that  arm,  in  which 
they  were  especially  deficient,  the  cavalry.  Perhaps 
nothing  short  of  an  invasion  of  his  country  by  the 
Parthian  king  in  person  would  have  prevented  Arta- 
vasdes from  detaching  a  ])ortion  of  liis  troops  to  act 
in  Mesopotamia.  And  no  doul)t  it  is  also  true  that 
Orodes  had  great  confidence  in  his  general,  whom  he 
may  even  have  fel't  to    be  a  better  commander  than 


'  Sec  ('hcsney,  Eajthnitts  Kvpe- 
dition,  vol.  i.  pj).  40-4!)  ;  Niel)uhr, 
Voyofje  en  Arafne,  pp.  330-3:54  ; 
Pocock,  IMseription  of  the  Eaat^ 
vol.  ii.  pp.  1.58-103. 

*  On  iIh!  line  of  route  between 
Zeugniii    and    Nirephorimn,    which 


must  have  nearly  coincided  with 
the  march  of  Crassus,  Isidore  places 
three    cities,    one   village,    and  four 


fortified 

1-) 

=>  Plut. 
xl.  IG. 


posts. 
Grass. 


{Mans.    Parth.    § 
21  ;    Dio    Cass. 


Cir.  XI.]       HIS  ADVEUSARY,  THE  PARTUIAN  SURENAS.       159 

himself.  Sureiias,  as  we  must  call  liim,  since  his  name 
has  not  been  preserved  to  us/  was  in  all  respects  a 
})erson  of  the  highest  consideration.  He  was  the 
second  man  in  the  kingdom  for  birth,  Avealth,  and 
I'eputation.  In  courage  and  ability  he  excelled  all  his 
countrymen ;  and  he  had  the  physical  advantages 
of  commanding  height  and  great  personal  beauty. 
When  he  went  to  battle,  he  was  accompanied  by 
a  train  of  a  thousand  camels,  which  carried  his 
baggage  ;  and  the  concubines  in  attendance  on  him 
I'equired  for  their  conveyance  two  hundred  chariots. 
A  thousand  horsemen  clad  in  mail,  and  a  still  greater 
number  of  light-armed,  formed  his  bodyguard.  At 
the  coronation  of  a  Parthian  monarch,  it  was  his 
hereditary  right  to  place  the  diadem  on  the  l^row 
of  the  new  sovereign.  When  Orodes  was  driven  into 
banishment,  it  was  he  who  brought  him  back  to 
Parthia  in  triumph.  AVhen  Seleucia  revolted,  it  was 
he  who  at  the  assault  first  mounted  the  bivacli,  and 
striking  terror  into  the  defenders,  took  the  city.  Though 
less  than  thirty  years  of  age  at  the  time  when  he  was 
appointed  commander,  he  was  believed  to  possess, 
liesides  these  various  qualifications,  consummate  pru- 
dence and  sagacity.^ 

The  force  which  Orodes  committed  to  his  brave  and 
skilful  lieutenant  consisted  entirely  of  horse.  This 
was  not  the  ordinary  chai'acter  of  a  Parthian  army, 
which  often  comprised  four  or  five  times  as  many 
infantry  as  cavalry.  It  was,  perhaps,  rather  fortunate 
accident   than    profound    calculation  that    caused  the 


'  It   has   been   already   observed  the  Pseudo-Appian  use  it  asa  proper 

that  Surenas,   or  Surena,    was  pro-  name. 

perly   an  officii!  title.     (See  above,  ^  TIii.s    account    is    taken    from 

p.  80  )     Plu'aich,  however,  Dio,  and  Plutarch  {Crass.  §  21). 


160  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    XI. 

sole  employment  against  the  Eomans  of  this  arm.* 
The  foot  soldiers  were  needed  for  the  rough  warfare 
of  the  Armenian  mountains;  the  horse  would,  it  was 
known,  act  with  fair  effect  in  the  comparatively  open 
and  level  Mesopotamia.  As  the  king  wanted  the  foot- 
men he  took  them,  and  left  to  his  general  the  troops 
Avhich  were  not  required  for  his  own  operations. 

The  Parthian  horse,  like  the  Persian,^  was  of  two 
kinds,  standinf]^in  strono;  contrast  the  one  to  the  other. 
The  bulk  of  their  cavaliy  was  of  the  lightest  and  most 
agile  desciiption.  Fleet  and  active  coursers,  with 
scarcely  any  caparison  hut  a  headstall  and  a  single 
rein,  were  mounted  by  riders  clad  only  in  a  tunic  and 
trousers,"'^  and  arnied  with  nothing  but  a  strong  bow 
and  a  quiver  full  of  arrows.  A  training  begun  in 
early  boyhood  made  the  rider  almost  one  with  his 
steed  ;  and  he  could  use  his  weapons  with  equal  ease 
and  effect  whether  his  hoi'se  was  stationary  or  at  full 
gallop,  and  whether  he  was  advancing  towards  or 
hurriedly  retreating  from  his  enemy.'*  His  supply  of 
missiles  was  almost  inexhaustible,  for  when  he  found 
his  quiver  empty,  he  had  only  to  retire  a  short  distance 
and  replenish*  his  stock  from  magazines,  borne  on  the 
backs  of  camels,  in  the  I'ear.^  It  was  his  oi-dinary 
plan  to  keep  constantly  in  motion  when  in  the  presence 
of  an  enemy,  to  gallop  backwards  and  forwards,  or 
I'ouud  and  round  his  square  or  column,  never  charging 


'  Mommsen  rcfjards  the  omploy- 
ment  of  cavalry  only  against  Orassus 
as  a  '  ))rilliaii"t  idea'  (^'eniak'n  Ge- 
danken)  of  the  Parthian  commander 
■{Oenrhic/itr,  vol.  iii.  p.  828). 

'  See  Aticieiit  Monarchies,  vol.  iii. 
pp.  178-179,  2nd  edit. 

■'  On  th(!  ordinary  Scythic  Cfjuip 


author's  Herodotus,  vol.  iii.  p.  34, 
2nd  edit.  There  is  no  reason  to 
su|)i)ose  that  the  Parthian  was  dif- 
ferent. 

*  Plut.  Crass.  §  24,  ad  Jin. ;  Virg. 
Oeorfl.  iii.  31;  Ilor.  Od.  i.  19,  11; 
ii.  13,  16;  Justin,  xli.  2 ;  Tac.  .4?i. 
vi.  35,  &c. 


mint  of  a  light   liorseman,    see  the        "  Plut.  Cntss.  ^  2~). 


en.  XI.]   CHARACTER  OF  THE  PARTHIA]^  CAVALRY.    161 

it,  but  at  a  moderate  interval  plying  it  with  his  keen 
and  Ijarbed  shafts  ;  ^  whicli  were  driven  by  a  practised 
hand  from  a  bow  of  unusual  strength.  Clouds  of  this 
light  cavalry  enveloped  the  advancing  or  the  retreating 
foe,  and  inflicted  grievous  damage  without,  for  the 
most  part,  suffei'ing  anything  in  return. 

But  this  was  not  the  whole.  In  addition  to  these 
light  troops,  a  Parthian  army  comprised  always  a  body 
of  heavy  cavalry,^  armed  on  an  entirely  different 
system.  The  strong  horses  selected  for  this  service 
were  clad  almost  wholly  in  mail.  Their  head,  neck, 
chest,  even  their  sides  and  flanks,  were  protected 
by  scale-armour  of  brass  or  iron,  sewn,  probably,  upon 
leather, ^^  Their  riders  had  cuirasses  and  cuisses  of  the 
same  materials,  and  helmets  of  burnished  iron.^  For 
an  offensive  weapon  they  carried  a  long  and  strong 
spear  or  pike.^  Tb«3y  formed  a  serried  line  in  battle, 
bearing  down  with  great  weight  on  the  enemy  whom 
they  charged,  and  standing  Arm  as  an  iron  wall  against 
the  charges  that  were  made  upon  them.  A  cavalry 
answei'ing  to  this  in  some  respects  had  been  employed 
by  the  later  Persian  monarchs,^  and  was  in  use  also 
among  the  Armenians  at  this  period ;  but  the  Par- 
thian pike  was  apparently  more  formidable  than  the 
corresponding  weapons  of  those  nations,  and  the  light 
spear  carried  at  this  time  by  the  cavalry  of  a  Roman 
army  was  no  match  for  it. 


'  Plutarch  speaks  of  the  '  barbed  '  matae     sunt,     qua?     utrumque    toto 


])oint.s'  (?))/c('77/j(j/it'i.'as  (i/ii(5«?)  of  the 
Parthian  arrows.      (1.  s.  c.) 

^  The  Greeks  called  these  horse- 
men KaTCKppitKTuv^,  '  protected,  cov- 
ered up.'  They  are  best  (lescril)ed 
by  Ileliodorus  {^Mhiop.  ix.  pp.  431- 


corpore    tegunt.'      Compare     Vu-g. 
^£"71.  xi.  770. 

*  Plut.  Crass.    §    24.      Kpaveai  tov 
Map-jiavov    ai^iipov    ari'/Sovroi   o^ij   kuI 

TTVpi'/MflTric. 

Tho  contus  (Koi-roi)  of  the  Greeks 


433).  and  Romans 

^  See  Justin,  xli.  2,  §  10.    '  iluni-        ^  See     Ancient    Monarchies,    vol. 
mentum  ipsis  equisque  loricae   plu-  |  iii.  p.  178,  2nd  edit. 


162  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  XI. 

The  force  entrusted  to  Siirenas  comprised  troops 
of  both  these  classes.  No  estimate  is  given  us  of  their 
number,  but  it  was  probably  considerable.^  At  any 
rate  it  was  sufficient  to  induce  him  to  make  a  move- 
ment in  advance — to  cross  the  Sinjar  range  and  the 
river  Khabour,  and  take  up  his  position  in  the  country 
between  that  stream  and  the  Belik— instead  of  merely 
seeking  to  cover  the  capital.  The  presence  of  the 
traitor  Abgarus  in  the  camp  of  Crassus  was  now 
of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  Parthian  commander. 
Abgarus,  fully  trusted,  and  at  the  head  of  a  body 
of  light  horse,  admirably  adapted  for  outpost  service, 
was  allowed,  upon  his  own  request,  to  scour  the 
country  in  front  of  the  advancing  Romans,  and  had 
thus  the  means  of  communicating  freely  with  the 
Parthian  chief.  He  kept  Surenas  informed  of  all 
the  movements  and  intentions  of  Crassus,^  while  at  the 
same  time  he  suggested  to  Crassus  such  a  line  of  route 
as  suited  the  views  and  designs  of  his  adversary.  Our 
chief  authoi'ity  for  the  details  of  the  expedition  tells 
us,"^  that  he  led  the  Koman  troops  through  an  arid  and 
trackless  desert,  across  plains  without  tree,  or  shrub, 
or  even  grass,  where  the  soil  was  composed  of  a  light 
shifting  sand,  which  the  wind  raised  into  a  succession 
of  hillocks  that  resembled  the  waves  of  an  interminable 
sea.  The  soldiers,  he  says,  fainted  with  the  heat  and 
with  the  drought,  while  the  audacious  Osrhoene  scoffed 
at  their  complaints  and  reproaches,  asking  them 
whetlier  they  expected  to  find  the  border-tract  between 
Arabia  and    Assyria  a  country  of  cool    streams  and 


'  They  are  called  'a  vast  number'    tlie  field   against   Antony   (Justin, 
(nAyfXK    no'/.v,      Plut.     C'/vf.s.s.     §    23),  '  xli.  2,  §  0). 
and     'an     immense    bodv '    {cop'ua^      '^  Dio  Cass.  xl.  21. 
immrnies,    Veil.    Pat.   ii.    40).     The        '  Plut.  Crcm.  ^  22. 
Parthians  brought  50,000  horse  into  I 


CH.    XI.]  ADVANCE    OF    CRASSUS.  163 

shady  groves,  of  baths,  and  hostelries,  like  their  own 
delicious  Campania.  But  our  knowledge  of  the  geof^-ra- 
jDhical  character  of  the  region  through  which  the  march 
lay  makes  it  impossible  for  us  to  acce23t  this  account  as 
true.^  The  country  between  the  Euphrates  and  the 
Belik,  as  already  observed,  is  one  of  alternate  hill  and 
plain,  neither  destitute  of  trees  nor  ill-provided  with 
water.  The  march  through  it  could  have  presented 
no  great  difficulties.  All  that  Abgarus  could  do  to 
serve  the  Parthian  cause  w^as,  first,  to  induce  Crassus 
to  trust  himself  to  the  open  country,  without  clinging 
either  to  a  river  or  to  the  mountains,  and,  secondly,  to 
bring  him,  after  a  hasty  march,  and  in  the  full  heat  of 
the  day,  into  the  presence  of  the  enemy.  Both  these 
things  he  contrived  to  effect,  and  Surenas  was,  no* 
doubt,  so  far  beholden  to  him.  But  the  notion  that 
he  enticed  the  Roman  army  into  a  trackless  desert, 
and  gave  it  over,  when  it  was  perishing  through 
weariness,  hunger,  and  thirst,  into  the  hands  of  its 
enraged  enemy,~  is  in  contradiction  with  the  topo- 
graphical facts,  and  is  not  even  maintained  consistently 
by  the  classical  writers.^ 

It   was   probably  on  the  third  or  fourth  day  after 
he    had    quitted   the   Euphrates,"*  that  Crassus  found 

'  Tlie  arguments  of  Dean  Merivale  I  "^  See  Moiiimsen,  Bom.  Geschichte, 
are  conclusive  {Romnn  Empire.,  vol.  vol.  iii.  p.  327.  This  writer  shows 
ii.  pp.  18,  19);  but  lie  .somewhat  no  knowledge  of  the  real  character 
mars  their  effect  b}'  suggesting  that   of  the  country. 

Plutarch  may  have  coiifounded  the  ^  Dio  has  no  mention  of  sands  or 
Belik  with  the  Khabour,  and  that  deserts.  On  the  contrary,  he  makes 
tlie  battle  may  have  leally  been  the  scene  of  the  battle  hilly  ground, 
fought  on  the  latter  stream.  The  '  partly  covered  with  trees  (xl.  21). 
general  tradition  that  the  scene  of  j  *  The  direct  <iist  ince  from  Zeug- 
tlie  fight  was  near  Canhic,  and  the  i  ma  to  the  probabk'  scene  of  the 
special  mention  of  Ichna'  as  also :  eng.igement  (half-way  between 
in  the  neighbourhood  (Plut.  Cmss.  Carrhie  and  IchnaM  is  less  than 
§  25),  make  it  certain  that  the  scene  eighty  miles.  The  army,  however, 
is  rightly  placed  on  the  B  lik,  since  did  not  take  this  line,  but  marched 
both  tlios:;  cii-ies  were  on  that  river,    at  first  alons;  the  left  bank    of  the 


164 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[cii. 


XI. 


himself  approaching  his  enemy.  After  a  hasty  and 
hot  march  ^  he  had  approached  the  banks  of  the 
Belik,  when  his  scouts  brought  him  word  that  they 
had  fallen  in  with  the  Parthian  arm}^  which  was 
advancing  in  force  and  seemingly  full  of  confidence. 
Abgarus  had  recently  quitted  him  on  the  plea  of 
doing  him  some  undefined  service,  but  really  to  range 
himself  on  the  side  of  his  real  friends,  the  Parthians.^ 
His  officers  now  advised  Crassus  to  encamp  upon 
the  river,  and  defer  an  engagement  till  the  mori-ow ; 
but  he  had  no  fears ;  his  son,  Publius,  who  had  lately 
joined  him  with  a  body  of  Gallic  horse  sent  by  Julius 
CiBsar,  was  anxious  for  the  fray ;  and  accordingly  the 
Roman  commander  gave  the  order  to  his  troops  to 
♦take  some  refreshment  as  they  stood,  and  then  to 
push  forward  rapidly.^  Surenas,  on  his  side,  had 
taken  up  a  position  on  wooded  and  hilly  ground, 
which  concealed  his  numbers,'*  and  had  even,  we  are 
told,  made  his  troops  cover  their  arms  with  cloths  and 
skins,^  that  the  glitter  might  not  betray  them.  But, 
as  the  Romans  drew  near,  all  concealment  was  cast 
aside ;  the  signal  for  battle  was  given ;  the  clang 
of  the  kettledrums  arose  on  every  side;  the  squadrons 
came  forward  in  their  ])rilliant  array;  and  it  seemed 
at  first  as  if  the  heavy  cavalry  was  about  to  charge  the 
Roman  host,^  which  was  formed  in  a  hollow  square 
w^ith  the  light-armed  in  the  middle,  and  with  supports 


Euphrates.  From  the  nearest  hend 
of  the  Eui)hriite.s  to  the  scene  of 
action  is  less  than  fifty  miles. 

'  Plut.  (JraxK.  §  2:5 ;  Dio  Cass, 
xl.  2:5. 

''  Plut.  CraHK  p.  22.  ad  fin.  This 
account  is  more  probable  than  that 
of  Dio,  that  he  rcinjiined  with  the 
Romans  till  after  the  death  of  the 
young  Crassus,  and  then  fell  upon 


their  rear  while  the  Parthians  at- 
tacked in  front.  (Dio  Cass.  xl. 
23.) 

'  Plut.  Crass.  %  23. 

■*  Dio  Cass.  xl.  21.  'H  re  X'^P'^ 
avun'i'Ao-  TT//  ?/v  Knl  6fv6pa  tixei'. 

''  Plut.  Crass.  1.  s.  c. 

«  So  Pint.  (Crass.  §  24).  But  it 
may  be  doubted  if  the  intention 
really  existed. 


CII.  XI.]         BATTLE  OF  THE  BELIK.  165 

of  lioi'se  along  the  whole  line,  as  well  as  upon  the 
flunks.^  But,  if  this  intention  was  ever  entertained, 
it  was  altered  almost  as  soon  as  formed,  and  the  better 
plan  was  adopted  of  halting  at  a  convenient  distance 
and  assailing  the  legionaries  witli  flight  after  flight 
of  arrows,  delivered  without  a  pause  and  with  extra- 
ordinary force.  The  l^oman  endeavoured  to  meet 
this  attack  by  throwing  forward  his  own  skirmishers  ; 
but  they  were  quite  unable  to  cope  with  the  numbers 
and  the  superior  weapons  of  the  enemy,  who  forced 
them  almost  immediately  to  retreat,  and  take  refuge 
behind  the  line  of  the  heavy-armed.^  These  wei'e 
then  once  more  exposed  to  the  deadly  missiles,  which 
pierced  alike  through  shield  and  breast-plate  and 
greaves,  and  inflicted  the  most  fearful  wounds.  More 
than  once  the  legionaries  dashed  forward,  and  sought 
to  close  with  their  assailants,  but  in  vain.  The  Par- 
thian squadrons  retired  as  the  Roman  infantry  advanced, 
maintaining  the  distance  which  they  thought  best  be- 
tween themselves  and  their  foe,  whom  they  plied 
with  their  shafts  as  incessantly  while  they  fell  back 
as  when  they  rode  forward.  For  a  w^hile  the  Komans 
entertained  the  hope  that  the.  missiles  would  at  last  be 
all  spent  ;^  but  when  they  found  that  each  archer 
constantly  obtamed  a  fresh  supply  from  the  rear,  this 
expectation  deserted  them.  It  l^ecame  evident  to 
Crassus  that  some  new  movement  must  be  attempted  ; 
and,  as  a  last  resource,  he  commanded  his  sou,  PuV)lius, 
whom  the  Parthians  were  threatening  to  outflank, 
to  take  such  troops  as  he  thought  proper,  and  charge. 
The  gallant  youth  was  only  too  glad  to  receive  the 
order.     Selecting  his    Gallic  cavalry,  who    iiumbei'ed 

'  Plut.   Crass.  §  23.  ,      '    Ibid.    §   25.     Compare     Lucan, 

'  Ibid.  §  24.  1  Phars.  viii.  386-387. 


166 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CIL  XI. 


1,000,  and  adding  to  tliem  500  other  horsemen,  500 
archers,  and  about  4,000  legionaries,^  he  advanced 
at  speed  against  the  nearest  squadrons  of  the  enemy. 
The  Parthians  pretended  to  be  afraid,  and  beat  a 
hasty  retreat.  Publius  followed  with  all  the  im- 
petuosity of  youth,  and  was  soon  out  of  the  sight 
of  his  friends,  pressing  the  flying  foe,  whom  he 
believed  to  be  panic-stricken.  But  when  they  had 
drawn  him  on  sufficiently,  they  suddenly  made  a  stand, 
Ijrought  their  heavy  cavalry  up  against  his  line,  and 
completely  enveloped  him  and  his  detachment  with 
their  light-armed,  Publius  made  a  desperate  I'esistance. 
His  Gauls  seized  the  Parthian  pikes  with  their  hands 
and  dragged  the  encumbered  horsemen  to  the  ground  ; 
or  dismounting,  slipped  beneath  the  horses  of  their 
opponents,  and  stal)bing  them  in  the  belly,  brought 
steed  and  rider  down  upon  themselves.  His  legionaries 
occupied  a  slight  hillock,  and  endeavoured  to  make 
a  wall  of  their  shields,  but  the  Parthian  archei's  closed 
around  them,  and  slew  them  almost  to  a  man.  Of 
the  whole  detachment,  nearly  six  thousand  strong,  no 
more  than  500  were  taken  prisoners,^  and  scarcely 
one  escaped.  The  young  Crassus  might,  possibly,  had 
lie  chosen  to  make  the  attempt,  have  forced  his  way 
through  the  enemy  to  Ichnjie,  a  Greek  town  not  far 
distant;'^  but  he  preferred  to  share  the  fate  of  his 
men.  Rather  than  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy, 
he  caused  his  shield-bearer  to  despatch  him  ;  and  his 
example  was  followed  by  his  principal  officers.  The 
victors  struck  off  his  head,  and  elevating  it  on  a  pike. 


'  'Eight  cohorts' (Plutarch)  would 
be  about  this  nutnher. 

*  Dio  says  that  not  a  sin<i;lc 
prisoner  was  taken  on  the  first  day 
(xl.  24) ;    but  Plutarch  allows   the 


captnie  of  500  {Cras^.  §  25,  ad  Jin.}. 
^  On  the  position  of  Iclmae,  see 
Is.  Char.  M((ii>i.  Pnrth.  §  1  ;  and 
compare  Mons.  C.  Mailer's  note 
ad  loc. 


CII.  XI.]  BATTLE  OF  THE  EELIK.  167 

returned  to  resume  tlieir  attack  on  the  main  body 
of  the  lionian  army. 

The  main  body,  much  relieved  by  the  diminution  of 
the  pressure  upon  them,  had  waited  patiently  for  Pub- 
lius  to  return  in  triumph,  regarding  the  battle  as  well 
nio'h  ov^er  and  success  as  certain.  After  a  time,  the 
prolonged  absence  of  the  young  caj)tain  aroused  suspi- 
cions, which  grew  into  alarms  when  messengers  arrived 
telling  of  his  extreme  danger.*  Crassus,  almost  beside 
himself  with  anxiety,  had  given  the  word  to  advance, 
and  the  army  had  moved  forward  a  short  distance, 
wdien  the  shouts  of  the  returning  enemy  were  heard, 
and  the  head  of  the  unfortunate  officer  was  seen  dis- 
played aloft,  while  the  Parthian  squadrons,  closing  in 
once  more,  renewed  the  assault  on  their  remaining  foes 
with  increased  vigour.  The  mailed  horsemen  approached 
close  to  the  legionaries  and  thrust  at  them  with  the 
long  pikes,"  while  the  light-armed,  galloping  across  the 
Roman  front,  discharged  their  unerring  arrows  over  the 
heads  of  their  own  men.  The  Romans  could  neither 
successfully  defend  themselves,  nor  effectively  retaliate. 
Still  time  brought  some  relief.  Bowstrings  broke, 
spears  were  blunted  or  splintered,  arrows  began  to  fail, 
thews  and  sinews  to  relax  ;^  and  when  night  closed  in 
both  parties  were  almost  equally  glad  of  the  cessation 
of  arms  which  the  darkness  rendered  compulsor}'. 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  Parthians,  as  of  the  Per- 
sians,"* to  l^ivouack  at  a  considerable  distance  from  an 

'  Plut.  Crni^x.  §  20.  I      *  On    the    Persian    practice,     see 

"  Plut.  Crass.  §  27;  Dio  Cass.  xl.  22.    Ancient  Monarchies,  vol.   iii.   p.  191, 

'  Dio   Cass.  xl.  24.     01   re  kovtoI  \  2nd  edit.      Fear  of  a  night  attack, 

Twv  iiapSnpuv  01  fxev  cnreaTpd(pr/aav,  a'l    and    the     difficulty    of     unfastening 

61  EK7.drif)Tinnv,  Kalni  vsvpnl  .   .   .  f/i^a-    and    caparisoning;  their   horses  in  a 


yTjoav  TO.  TE  i3f/71  iSero^evOt],  Knl  tu 
^'(Ptj  TTilvra  uTTTifiii^iVvOTj'  To  re  fJ^yi- 
arov,    oi   uvdpeg    avrol    (povtvovre'i   k^i- 

KOflOV. 


hurry,    were    at    the    root    of    the 
custom 


168  THE    SIXTH    MONAECHY.  [CH.  XL 

enemy.  Accordingly,  at  nightfall  tliey  drew  off,  having 
first  shouted  to  the  Romans  that  they  would  grant  the 
general  one  night  in  which  to  bewail  his  son ;  on  the 
morrow  they  would  come  and  take  him  prisoner,  unless 
he  preferred  the  better  course  of  surrendering  himself 
to  the  mercy  of  Arsaces.^  A  short  breathing-space  was 
thus  allowed  the  Romans,  Avho  took  advantage  of  it  to 
retire  towards  Carrhse,  leaving  behind  them  the  greater 
part  of  their  wounded,  to  the  number  of  4,000.  A 
small  body  of  horse  reached  Carrhse  about  midnight, 
and  srave  the  commandant  such  information  as  led  him 
to  put  his  men  under  arms  and  issue  forth  to  the  suc- 
cour of  the  proconsul.  The  Parthians,  though  the 
cries  of  the  wounded  made  them  well  aware  of  the 
Roman  retreat,  adhered  to  their  system  of  avoiding 
night  combats,  and  attempted  no  pursuit  till  morning^^ 
Even  then  they  allowed  themselves  to  be  delayed  by 
comparatively  trivial  matters — the  capture  of  the 
Roman  camp,  the  massacre  of  the  wounded,  and  the 
slaufrhter  of  the  numerous  strao-a-lers  scattered  alono; 
the  line  of  march — and  made  no  haste  to  overtake  the 
retreating  army.  The  bulk  of  the  troops  were  thus 
enabled  to  effect  their  retreat  in  safety  to  Carrh^e, 
where,  having  the  protection  of  walls,  they  were,  at 
any  rate  for  a  time,  secure. 

It  might  have  been  expected  that  the  Romans  Avould 
here  have  made  a  stand.     The  siege  of  a  fortified  place 


'  Plut.  Oraas.  1.  s.  c.  )  '"'ji'    noAefji.u)i') — and    lias    niiule    tho 

'  So  Plutarch  (§  28).  01  TlapOo*,  Parthians  start  in  pursuit,  but  soon 
vvtcrdi  /tlv  aioOdfjevoL  r?)v  f/7r'j(5p«(nv,  i  j^ive  up  the  attetnpt,  liecause  'their 
ovK  idicjKov.  Dean  Merivale  has,  horses,  after  a  long  <l;iy's  service, 
I  think,  misundeistooil  a  somewhat  weie  unahle  to  keep  pace  with  the 
obscure  pnssage  in  the  preceding  headlong  rush  of  (Icspcrate  men.' 
section — where  the  retreating  army  This  is  not  very  probiblc.  and  it  is 
is  said  to  have  thoyght  the  enemy  certainly  not  contained  in  the  au- 
was  upon  them  (<j  S  e:ni<pei)Ofiivuv    thorities. 


CIL  Xr.]  FLIGHT    OF    CRASSUS    FROM    CARRTT^.  169 

by  cavalry  is  ridiculous,  if  we  understand  by  siege 
anything  more  than  a  very  incomplete  blockade.  And 
tlie  Partbians  were  notoi'iously  inefficient  against  walls.^ 
There  was  a  chance,  moreover,  that  Artavasdes  might 
have  been  more  successful  than  his  ally,  and  having 
repulsed  the  Parthian  monarch,  might  march  his  troops 
to  the  relief  of  the  Eomans.  But  the  soldiers  were 
thoroughly  dispirited,  and  would  not  listen  to  these 
su2:2:estions.^  Provisions  no  doul)t  ran  short,  since,  as 
there  had  been  no  expectation  of  a  disaster,  no  prepa- 
rations had  been  made  for  standing  a  siege.  The  (i  reek 
inhabitants  of  the  place  could  not  be  trusted  to  exhibit 
fidelity  to  a  falling  cause.  Moreover,  Armenia  was 
near;  and  the  Parthian  system  of  abstaining  from 
action  during  the  night  seemed  to  render  escape  toler- 
ably easy.  It  was  resolved,  therefore,  instead  of  clinging 
to  the  protection  of  the  walls,  to  issue  forth  once  more, 
and  to  endeavour  by  a  rapid  night  march  to  reach  the 
Armenian  hills.  The  various  officers  seem  to  have 
been  allowed  to  arrange  matters  for  themselves.  Cas- 
siustook  his  way  towards  the  Euphrates,' and  succeeded 
in  escaping  with  500  horse.  Octavius,  with  a  division 
whicli  is  estimated  at  5,000  men,  reached  the  outskirts 
of  the  liills  at  a  place  called  kSinnaca,^  and  found  him- 
self in  comparative  security.  Crassus,  misled  by  his 
guides,  made  but  poor  progress  during  the  night ;  he 
had,  however,  arrived  within  little  more  than  a  mile  of 


'  See  Lucan,  PhnrsaUa,  viii.  377-  [      '  Plut.  Crass.  §  20. 
37!» : —  j      '  I  do  not  understand  whj'  Dr. 

'Non  aries  illis,   non  ulla   est  ma-    Mnmmsen    speaks  of    Sinnaca  as  a 

china  belli:  'fort'      {Fe><tutiff,    vol.    iii.    p.   330). 

Hand  fossas  implore   valent;    Par-    Plutarch    seems    to  ngard    it  as   a 

thoque  sequent  e  |  mere  hill  (note  the  expression  a?<'/:ov 

Murus     erit,      quodcunque      pot^-st    /d^.inr,     v-oKeifieioi'     roli     Iti'vaKoii) ; 

obstare  sigitta'.'  land  Strabo    only   calls  it  a  'place' 

Compare  Tacit.  Ann.  xv.  i.  |  (vw    o.',  xv.   I,  §  2S). 


170  THE    SIXTH    MOIST AKCIIY.  [CH.    XL 

Octavius  before  the  enemy,  wlio  would  not  stir  till  day- 
break, overtook  him.  Pressed  upon  by  their  advancing 
squadrons,  he,  with  his  small  band  of  2,000  legionaries 
and  a  few  horsemen,  occupied  a  low  hillock  connected 
by  a  ridge  of  rising  ground  with  the  position  of  Sinnaca. 
Here  the  Parthian  host  beset  him ;  and  he  would  infallibly 
have  been  slain  or  captured  at  once,  had  not  Octavius, 
deserting  his  place  of  safety,  descended  to  the  aid  of 
his  commander.  The  united  7,000  held  their  own 
against  the  enemy,  having  the  advantage  of  the  ground, 
and  having  perhaps  ])y  the  experience  of  some  days 
learnt  the  weak  points  of  Parthian  ^varfare. 

Surenas  was  anxious,  above  all  things,  to  secure  the 
person  of  the  Roman  commander.  In  the  East  an 
excessive  importance  is  attached  to  this  proof  of  success  ; 
and  there  were  reasons  which  made  Crassus  particularly 
obnoxious  to  his  antas^onists.  He  was  believed  to  have 
originated,  and  not  merely  conducted,  the  war,  incited 
thereto  by  simple  greed  of  gold.^  He  had  refused 
with  tlie  utmost  haughtiness  all  discussion  of  terms,  and 
had  insulted  the  majesty  of  the  Parthians  by  the  decla- 
ration that  he  would  treat  nowhere  but  at  tlieir  capital. 
If  he  escaped,  he  would  be  bound  at  some  future  time 
to  repeat  liis  attempt;  if  he  were  made  prisoner,  his 
fate  would  be  a  teri'ible  warning  to  others.  But  now, 
as  evening  approached,  it  seemed  to  tlie  Parthian  that 
the  prize  which  he  so  much  desired  was  about  to 
elude  his  grasp.  The  highlands  of  Armenia  would  be 
gained  V)y  the  fugitives  during  the  night,  and  further 
pursuit  of  them  would  l)e  hopeless.  It  remained  that 
he  should  effect  by  craft  what  he  could  no  longer  hope 
to  gain  by  the  employment  of  force  ;  and  to  tliis  point 

'  Sec  iihove,  p.  154. 


CII.    XI.]  TREACHEKOUS    SEIZURE    OF    CRASSUS.  171 

all  Lis  efforts  were  now  directed.  He  drew  off  his 
troops  aud  left  the  Romans  without  further  molestation. 
He  allowed  some  of  liis  prisoners  to  escape  and  rejoin 
their  friends,  having  first  contrived  that  they  should  over- 
hear a  conversation  among  his  men,  of  which  the  theme 
was  the  Parthian  clemency,  and  the  wish  of  Orodes  to 
come  to  terms  with  the  Romans.  He  then,  having 
allowed  time  for  the  report  of  his  pacific  intentions  to 
spread,  rode  with  a  few  chiefs  towards  the  Roman 
camp,  carrying  his  bow  unstrung  and  his  right  hand 
stretched  out  in  token  of  amity.  '  Let  the  Roman 
general,'  he  said,  '  come  forward  with  an  e(_[ual  number 
of  attendants,  and  confer  with  me  in  the  open  space 
between  the  armies  on  terms  of  peace.'  The  aged  pro- 
consul was  disinclined  to  trust  these  overtures  ;  but  his 
men  clamoured  and  threatened,  upon  Avhich  he  yielded, 
and  went  down  into  the  plain,  accompanied  by  Octa- 
vius  and  a  few  others.  Here  he  was  received  with 
apparent  honour,  and  terms  were  arranged  ;  but  Sure- 
nas  required  that  they  should  at  once  be  reduced  to 
writing,  '  since,'  he  said,  with  pointed  allusion  to  the 
bad  faith  of  Pompey,  '  you  Romans  are  not  very  apt 
to  remember  your  engagements.'  A  movement  being 
requisite  for  the  drawing  up  of  the  formal  instruments, 
Crassus  and  his  officers  were  induced  to  mount  upon 
horses  furnished  by  the  Parthians,  who  had  no  sooner 
seated  the  proconsul  on  his  steed,  than  he  proceeded  to 
hurry  him  forward,  with  the  evident  intention  of  carry- 
ing him  off  to  their  camp.^  The  Roman  officers  took 
the  alarm  and  resisted.     Octavius  snatched  a  sword 


'  Mommsen       seems      to      doubt  upon   the   point.       Such    treachery 

whether   the    Parthians  really    in-  has  been  constant  in  the  East  from 

tended   any   treachery    {Ocfchichte,  tlie   time  of  the  Ten   Thousand    to 

vol.  ill.   p.  330).     But  the  Romans  the  Affghan  war  of  1841. 
can    scarcely  have   been    mi.stakcn 


172 


THE    SIXTH    ]\rOXARCIIY. 


[CII.    XI. 


from  a  Partliian  and  killed  one  of  the  srrooms  who  was 
Inirrying  Crassiis  away.  A  blow  from  behind  stretched 
him  on  the  ground  lifeless.  A  general  melee  followed, 
and  in  the  confusion  Ci'assus  was  killed,  whether  by 
one  of  his  own  side  and  with  his  own  consent,  or  by  the 
hand  of  a  Parthian,  is  uncertain.^  The  army,  learning 
the  fate  of  their  general,  with  but  few  exceptions, 
surrendered.  Such  as  sought  to  escape  under  cover 
of  the  approaching  night  were  hunted  down  by  the 
Bedouins  who  served  under  the  Parthian  standard,  and 
killed  almost  to  a  man.  Of  the  entire  army  which  had 
crossed  the  Euphrates,  consisting  of  al)ove  40,000  men, 
not  more  than  a  fourth  returned.  One  half  of  the 
whole  number  perished.^  Neai'ly  10,000  prisoners 
were  settled  by  the  victors  in  the  fertile  oasis  of  Mar- 
giana,^  near  the  northern  frontier  of  the  empire,  where 
they  intermarried  with  native  wives,^  and  became  sub- 
missive Parthian  subjects.^ 

Such  was  the  result  of  this  great  expedition,  the  first 
attempt  of  the  grasping  and  ambitious  Romans,  not  so 
much  to  conquer  Parthia,  as  to  strike  terror  into  the 
heart  of  her  people,  and  to  degrade  them  to  the  condi- 
tion of  obsequious  dependants  on  the  will  and  pleasure 
of  the  '  world's  lords.'  "^  The  expedition  failed  so 
utterly,  not  from  any  want  of  bravery  on  the  part  of 
the  soldiers  employed  in  it,  nor  from  any  absolute 
superiority  of  the  Parthian  over  the  Roman  tactics, 
but  partly  fi'om  the  incompetence  of  the  commander, 


'  Plutarch  makes  him  killed  by 
a  Parthian  named  Po:nax;ethres, 
Ijut  confesses  that  the  exact  truth 
WIS  not  ki.own  (Crass.  §  31).  Dio 
(rives  both  accounts  (xl.  37). 

-  Pint.  Cr/tss.  i,  .01,  ad  fin. 

'  PI  in.  K  K  vi.  IG. 

*  See  the  well-known  passage  of 
llojace  (Od.  iii.  5,  5): — 


'  Milesno  Crassi  conjuge  barbara,' 
&c. 

"  The  Roman  captives  served  as 
soldiers  in  the  Parthian  ainiies 
(Veil.  Pat.  ii.  82;  Florus,  iv. 
10). 

"  '  Uomanos  rerum  dominos ' 
(Virg.  ^^a.  i.  282). 


CH.    XI.]  CAUSES    OF    HIS    FAILURE.  173 

partly  from  tlie  inexperience  of  the  Romans,  up  to  this 
date,  in  the  nature  of  the  Parthian  warfare  and  in  the 
best  manner  of  meeting  it.  To  attack  an  enemy  whose 
main  arm  is  the  cavalry  with  a  body  of  foot-soldiers, 
supported  by  an  insignificant  numl)er  of  horse,  must  be 
at  all  times  rash  and  dangerous.  To  direct  such  an 
attack  on  the  more  open  part  of  the  country,  where 
cavalry  could  operate  freely,  was  wantonly  to  aggravate 
the  peril.  After  the  first  disaster,  to  quit  the  protec- 
tion of  walls,  when  it  had  ])een  obtained,  was  a  piece 
of  reckless  folly.  Had  Crassus  taken  care  to  obtain  the 
support  of  some  of  the  desert  tribes,^  if  Armenia  could 
not  help  him,  and  had  he  then  advanced  either  by  the 
way  of  the  Mons  Masius  and  the  Tigris,  or  along  the 
line  of  the  Euphrates,  the  issue  of  his  attack  might 
have  been  different.  He  might  have  fought  his  way  to 
Seleucia  and  Ctesiphon,  as  did  Trajan,  Avidius  Cassius, 
and  Septimius  Severus,  and  might  have  taken  apd  plun- 
dered those  cities.  He  would  no  doubt  have  experienced 
difficulties  in  his  retreat ;  but  he  might  have  come  off 
no  worse  than  Trajan,  whose  Parthian  expedition  has 
been  generally  regarded  as  rather  augmenting  than 
detracting  from  his  reputation  But  an  ignorant  ftnd 
inexperienced  commander,  venturing  on  a  trial  of  arms 
with  an  enemy  of  whom  he  knew  little  or  nothing,  in 
their  own  country,  without  supports  or  allies,  and  then 
neglecting  every  precaution  suggested  by  his  officers, 
allowing  himself  to  l)e  deceived  by  a  pretended  friend, 
and  marching  straight  into  a  net  prepared  for  him, 
naturally  suffered  defeat.  The  credit  of  the  Roman 
arms  does  not  greatly  suffer  by  the  disaster,  nor  is  that 
of  the  Parthians  greatly  enhanced.    The  latter  showed^ 


As  Julian  did  (Amm.  Marc,  xxiii.   5). 


174  THE    SIXTH    MOISTAECIIY.  [CH.  XI. 

as  they  bad  shown  in  their  wars  against  the  Syro- 
Macedonians,  that  their  somewhat  loose  and  irregular 
array  was  capable  of  acting  with  effect  against  the  solid 
masses  and  well-ordered  movements  of  disciplined 
troops.  They  acquired  by  their  use  of  the  bow  a  fame 
like  that  which  the  English  archers  obtained  for  the 
employment  of  the  same  weapon  at  Crecy  and  Agin- 
court.  They  forced  the  arrogant  Komans  to  respect 
them,  and  to  allow  that  there  was  at  least  one  nation 
in  the  world  which  could  meet  them  on  equal  terms 
and  not  be  worsted  in  the  encounter.^  They  henceforth 
obtained  recognition  from  the  Grseco-Iloman  writers — 
albeit  a  gi*udging  and  covert  recognition — as  the  second 
Power  in  the  world,  the  admitted  rival  of  llome,^  the 
only  real  counterpoise  upon  the  earth  to  the  power 
which  ruled  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
While  the  general  of  King  Orodes  was  thus  successful 
against  the  Komans  in  Mesopotamia,  the  king  himself 
had  in  Armenia  obtained  advantages  of  almost  equal 
value,  though  of  a  different  kind.  Instead  of  contend- 
ing with  Artavasdes,  he  had  come  to  terms  with  him, 
and  had  concluded  a  close  alliance,  which  he  had  sought 
to.  confirm  and  secure  by  uniting  his  son,  Pacorus,  in 
mari'iage  with  a  sister  of  the  Armenian  monarch.^  A 
series  of  festivites  was  being  held  to  celebrate  this 
auspicious  event,  when  news  came  of  Surenas'  triumph, 
and  of  the  fate  of  Crassus.  According  to  the  barbarous 
customs  of  the  East,  the  head  and  hand  of  the  slain 


•   See    Justin,     xli.      1,      §     7  : —  I  t^rrre    kdi     roZS     Tu/za/o^S     tote     civti. 
'Parthi,    a    Romanis    trinis    bellis,    Toi^e/i^ant,    Ka\    tUvpo    ael    avri- 


per  maximos  duces  florentissiinis 
temporibus  lacessiti,  soli  ex  omnibus 
gehtihm  non  parea  solunt^  verum 
etiam  victores  fucre.^  And  Dio  (xl. 
14) : — TcAevruvrei  ^^,  iwl  tuoovto  ko) 


■rraXoi   v  ofii^eoO  a  i . 

"^  Compare  besides  the  passages 
above  quoted,  Strab.  xi.  9,  §  2  ; 
Plin.  JI.  N.  V.  25 ;  and  Ilcrodian, 
iv.   18. 


r^S  (Jo^T/f  Kol  TT/i  (hvujuEui   ix<^/JJiouv,  \      '  Plut.   Crass.  §  33 


CII.    Xr.]  CIIASSUS,    HEAD    CARRIED    TO    OKODES.  175 

proconsul  accompanied  tlie  intelligence.  We  are  told 
that  at  the  moment  of  the  messeno-er's  arrival  the 
two  sovereigns,  with  their  attendants,  were  amusing 
themselves  with  a  dramatic  entertainment.  Both  mon- 
archs  had  a  o-ood  knowledo-e  of  the  Greek  literature 
and  lang:uaue,  in  which  Artavasdes  had  himself  com- 
posed  historical  works  and  tragedies.  The  actors  were 
representing  the  famous  scene  in  the  '  Bacchae '  of  Euri- 
pides/ where  Agave  and  the  Bacchanals  come  upon 
the  stage  with  the  mutilated  remains  of  the  murdered 
Pentheus,  when  the  liead  of  Crassus  was  thrown  in 
among  them.  Instantly  the  player  who  personated 
Agave  seized  the  bloody  trophy,  and,  placing  it  on  his 
thyrsus  instead  of  the  one  he  was  carrying,  paraded 
it  before  the  delighted  spectators,  while  he  chanted  the 
well-kno^vn  lines : — ^ 

From  the  mountain  to  the  hall 
New-cut  tendril,  see,  we  bring — 
Blessed  prey ! 

The  horrible  spectacle  was  one  well  suited  to  please  an 
Eastern  audience :  it  was  followed  by  a  proceeding  of 
equal  barbarity  and  still  more  thoroughly  Oriental.' 
The  Pai'thians,  in  derision  of  the  motive  which  was 
supposed  to  have  led  Crassus  to  make  his  attack,  had  a 
quantity  of  gold  melted  and  poured  it  into  his  mouth."* 
Mean^vhile  Surenas  was  amusing  his  victorious  troops, 
and  seeking  to  annoy  the  disaffected  Seleucians,  by  the 


'  Eurip.     Barch.    11G9-1200    fed.  '  and    for   more   exact    parallels   see 


Dindorf) 

'  Ibid.  1170-1172;— 

{'XtKO  VEorouov  i-l  /XE/.aOpn, 


Appian,   Mithridat.   p.  184,    C  ;  and 
Midi.    Palaeol.    ii.    24. 

'  Sa   Florus    (iii.    11,   §    m    and 

Dio    (xl.    27.)     Plubirch   omits    the 

fiaKapiav  (j^pav.  circumstance  ;    but    I    think,    with 

^  Compare     the     proceedings     of   '^•^an    Mcr  vale,     that    there    is    no 

Tomyris  witli    the   head  of   Cyrus,    reason    why    we    should    disl)elieve 

as    related    in    Herodotus,    i.    214;    'f-     (Wjmaii  Empire,  yo\.  \\.  \^.  'IQ.) 


176  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    XI. 

performance  of  a  farcical  ceremony,  lie  spread  tlie 
report  that  Crassns  was  not  killed  but  captured  ;  and, 
selecting  from  among  tlie  prisoners  the  Roman  most 
like  him  in  appearance,  he  dressed  the  man  in  woman's 
clothes,  mounted  him  upon  a  horse,  and  requii'ing  him 
to  answer  to  the  names  of  '  Crassns  '  and  '  Imperator,' 
conducted  him  in  triumph  to  the  Gi'ecian  city.  Before 
him  went,  mounted  on  camels,  a  band,  arrayed  as 
trumpeters  and  lictoi's,  the  lictors'  rods  having  purses 
suspended  to  them,  and  the  axes  in  their  midst  being 
crowned  with  the  bleeding  heads  of  Komans.  In  the 
rear  fo]h:> wed  a  train  ofSeleucian  music-girls,  who  sang 
songs  derisive  of  the  effeminacy  and  cowardice  of  the 
proconsul.  After  this  jiretended  parade  of  his  prisoner 
through  the  streets  of  the  town,  Surenas  called  a  meeting 
of  the  Seleucian  senate,  and  indignantly  denounced  to 
them  the  indecency  of  the  literature  which  he  had 
found  in  the  Koman  tents.  The  charge,  it  is  said,  was 
true ;  ^  but  the  Seleucians  were  not  greatly  impressed 
by  the  moral  lesson  read  to  them,  when  they  remarked 
the  train  of  concubines  that  had  accompanied  Surenas 
himself  in  the  iield,  and  thought  of  the  loose  crowd  of 
dancers,  singers,  and  prostitutes,  that  was  commonly  to 
l)e  seen  in  the  rear  of  a  Parthian  army. 

The  political  consequences  of  the  great  triumph 
Avhich  the  Parthians  had  achieved  were  less  than  might 
have  been  anticipated.  Mesopotamia  was,  of  course, 
recovered  to  its  extremest  limit,  the  Euphrates;  Ar- 
menia was  lost  to  the  Roman  alliance,  and  thrown  for 
the  time  into  complete  dependence  upon  Parthia.  The 
whole  East  was,  to  some  extent,  excited  ;  and  the  Jews, 
always  impatient  of  a  foreign  yoke,  and  recently 
aggrieved  by  the  unprov^oked  spoliation  of  tLeir  Temple 

'  Plut.   Crass.  §32.     Ovtol  Tavra  ye  KaTatjievadjuePoc. 


CII.  XI.]  RESULTS    OF   THE    DISASTER.  177 

by  Crassus,  flew  to  arms.^  But  no  general  movement 
of  the  Oriental  races  took  place.  It  might  have  been 
expected  that  the  Syrians,  Phoenicians,  Cilicians,  Cappa- 
(locians,  Phrygians,  and  other  Asiatic  peoples  \vliose 
proclivities  were  altogether  Oriental,  wou hi  have  seized 
the  opportunity  of  rising  against  their  Western  lords 
and  driving  the  Ponians  back  upon  Europe.  It  might 
have  been  thought  that  Parthia  at  least  would  have 
assumed  the  offensive  in  force,  and  have  made  a  de- 
termined effort  to  rid  herself  of  neighbours  who  had 
proved  so  ti-oublesome.  But  though  the  conjuncture 
of  circumstances  was  most  favourable,  the  man  was 
wantinof.  Had  Mithridates  or  Tis^ranes  been  livino*,  or 
had  Surenas  been  king  of  Parthia,  instead  of  a  mere 
general,  advantage  wouhl  proba))ly  have  been  taken  of 
the  occasion,  and  Kome  mi2:ht  have  suffered  seriouslv. 
But  Orodes  seems  to  have  been  neither  ambitious  as  a 
prince  nor  skilful  as  a  commander ;  he  lacked  at  any 
rate  the  keen  and  all-embracing  glance  which  could 
sweep  the  j)olitical  horizon  and,  comprehending  the 
exact  character  of  the  situation,  see  at  the  same  time 
how  to  make  the  most  of  it.  He  allowed  the  opportu- 
nity to  slip  by  without  putting  forth  his  strength  or 
making  any  considerable  effort ;  and  the  occasion  once 
lost  never  returned. 

In  Parthia  itself  one  immediate  result  of  the  expedi- 
tion seems  to  have  Ijeen  the  ruin  of  Surenas.  His 
services  to  his  sovereign  had  exceeded  the  measure 
which  it  is  safe  in  the  East  for  a  subject  to  render  to 
the  crown.  The  jealousy  of  his  royal  master  was 
aroused,  and  he  had  to  pay  the  penalty  of  over-much 
success  with  his  life.^     Parthia  was  thus  left  without  a 


Josephus,  Ant.  Jtid.  xiv.  7,  §  3.  ]      '  Plut.  Cmxa.  §  33. 


178 


THE    SIXTH    JIONAKCHY. 


[CH.    XI. 


general  of  approved  merit,  for  Sillaces,  tlie  second  in 
command  during  the  war  with  Crassiis/  had  in  no  way 
distinguished  himself  through  the  campaign.  This  con- 
dition of  things  may  account  for  the  feebleness  of  the 
efforts  made  in  B.C.  52,  to  retaliate  on  the  Romans  the 
damage  done  by  their  invasion.  A  few  weak  bands 
only  passed  the  Euphrates,  and  began  the  work  of 
plunder  and  ravage,  in  which  the}^  ^vere  speedily  dis- 
turbed by  Cassius,  who  easily  drove  them  l)ack  over  the 
river.^  The  next  year,  however,  a  more  determined 
attempt  was  made.  Orodes  sent  his  son,  Pacorus,  the 
young  bridegroom,  to  win  his  spurs  in  Syria,  at  the 
head  of  a  considerable  force,  and  sujiported  by  the 
experience  and  authority  of  an  officer  of  ripe  age, 
named  Osaces.^  The  army  crossed  the  Euphrates 
unresisted,  for  Cassius,  the  governor,  had  with  him  only 
the  broken  remains  of  Crassus's  army,  consisting  of 
about  two  le(»:ions,  and  deemino*  hiuiself  too  weak  to 
meet  the  enemy  in  the  open  field,  ^vas  content  to 
defend  the  towns.  The  open  country  was  consequently 
oveiTun  ;  and  a  tlfl'ill  of  mino-led  alarm  and  excitement 
passed  through  all  the  Roman  provinces  in  Asia.^  The 
provinces  were  at  the  time  most  inadequately  supplied 
with  Roman  troops,''  tlirough  the  desire  of  Caesar  and 
Pompey  to  maintain  large  armies  about  their  own  per- 
sons. The  natives  were  for  the  most  part  disaffected 
and  inclined  to  hail  the  Parthians  as  brethren  and 
deliverers."     Excepting  Deiotarus  of  Galatia,  and  Ario- 


Plut.  Crrm.  §  21.  Compare 
Dio  Cass,  xl  12;  Ores.  vi.  13. 

=  Dio  Cass.  xl.  28. 

'  Ibid.  CoMiparo  Cic.  E/i.  ad 
Att.  V.   18,  20;  ff,f  Dh.  XV.  1  ;  &c. 

*  See,  o!i  this  point,  tlie  interest- 
ing    despatch     \»f    Uifero     to    tiie 


Roman  Senate  (Ep.  ad  Div.  xv.  1). 
^  See  the  complaints  of  Cicero  in 
the  despatch  above  referred  to  ;  and 
note  that  Cicero  himself  had  for  his 
larp;e  province  not  two  complete 
leijions  {Kn.  <ul  Div  iii.  fl). 
'"  Dio   Cass.    xl.   28,  ad  fn.     T<.;)i 


CH.    XI.]    THE  PARTHIAjS^S  IJS^VADE  SYRIA  AND  CILICIA.     179 

barzanes  of  Cappadocia,  Konie  liad,  as  Cicero  (then 
proconsul  of  Cilicia)  plaintively  declared,^  not  a  friend 
on  the  Asiatic  continent.  And  Cappadocia  was  miser- 
ably weak,*^  and  open  to  attack  on  tli£  side  of  Armenia. 
Had  Orodes  and  Artavasdes  acted  in  concert,  and  had 
the  latter,  while  Orodes  sent  his  armies  into  Syria, 
poured  the  Armenian  forces  into  Cappadocia  and  then 
into  Cilicia  (as  it  was  expected  that  he  would  do),^ 
thei'e  would  have  been  the  greatest  danger  to  the 
Roman  possessions.  As  it  was,  the  excitement  in  Asia 
Minor  was  extreme.  Cicero  marched  into  Cappadocia 
with  the  bulk  of  the  Roman  troops,  and  summoned  to 
his  aid  Deiotarus  with  his  Galatians,*  at  the  same  time 
wi'iting  to  the  Roman  Senate  to  implore  reinforcements.^ 
Cassius  shut  himself  up  in  Antioch,®  and  allowed  the 
Parthian  cavalry  to  pass  him  by,  and  even  to  proceed 
beyond  the  bounds  of  Syria  into  Cilicia.''  But  the  Par- 
thians  seem  scarcely  to  have  understood  the  situation 
of  their  adversaries,  or  to  have  been  aware  of  their  own 
advantages.  Instead  of  spreading  themselves  wide, 
raisinsf  the  natives,  and  leavins;  them  to  blockade  the 
towns,  while  with  their  as  yet  unconquered  squadrons 
they  defied  the  enemy  in  the  open  country,  Ave  find 
them  eno-ao'ino^  in  the  sieire  and  blockade  of  cities,  for 
which  they  were  wholly  unfit,  and  confining  themselves 


drj/xuv  Ty  re  ''Pufiaiuv  Seanoreia 
axOofiEvuv,  Koi  nphi  avroii  (i.e.  Tovf 
Tlupfjovi),  are  kuI  yeirnvdi  KOi  avvTJQeLS 
a<pimv  ovrai,  uttokXivi'ivtuv. 

'  Cic.  Bp.  ad  Biv.  xv.   I. 

*  '  Cappadocia  est  inanis.'  (Cic. 
1.  s.  c.) 

^  Cic.  Ej).  ad  Div.  xv.  3  ;  ad  Att. 
V.  20. 

''  Ep.  ad  Div.  xv.  4. 

^  Ibid.  XV.  1.  'Hoc  autem  tem- 
pore   res    sese    ita    habet,   ut,    nisi 


exercitiini  tantiira  quantum  ad 
maximum  bellum  niitterc  vnleti.->, 
mature  in  has  provincias  miseritis, 
sunimum  periculum  sit,  ne  amit- 
tendct  sint  omnes  h;B  provinci:*^.' 

"  Dio  Cas.s.  xl.  29 ;  Cic.  Ep.  ad 
Att.  V.  20. 

'  Cicero  tells  iis  that  liis  civalry 
defeated  a  Part  h  inn  detachment 
within  the  limits  of  Cilicia  (Ejk  ad 
Div.  XV  4). 


180  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [cH.   X. 

almost  entirely  to  the  narrow  valley  of  tlie  Orontes.^ 
Under  tliese  circumstances  we  are  not  surprised  to  learn 
that  Cassius,  having  first  beat  them  back  from  Antioch,^ 
contrived  to  lead  .them  into  an  ambush  on  the  banks 
of  the  river,  and  severely  handled  their  troops,  even 
killing  the  general  Osaces.^  The  Parthians  withdrew 
from  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Syrian  capital  after  this 
defeat,  which  must  have  taken  place  about  the  end  of 
September,  and  soon  afterwards  went  into  winter  quar- 
ters in  Cyi'rhestica,^  or  the  part  of  Syria  immediately 
east  of  Amanus.  Here  they  remained  during  the  winter 
months  under  Pacorus,  and  it  was  expected  that  the 
war  would  break  out  again  with  fresh  fury  in  the 
spring  ;  ^  but  Bibulus,  the  new  proconsul  of  Syria,  con- 
scious of  his  military  deficiencies,  contrived  to  sow 
dissensions  among  the  Parthians  themselves,  and  to  turn 
the  thoughts  of  Pacorus  in  anotherdirection.  lie  sug- 
gested to  Ornodapantes,  a  Parthian  noble,  with  whom 
he  had  managed  to  open  a  corresj)ondence,  that  Paco- 
rus would.be  a  more  worthy  occupant  of  the  Parthian 
throne  than  his  father,  and  that  he  would  consult  well 
for  his  own  interests,  if  he  were  to  proclaim  tlie  young 
prince,  and  lead  the  army  of  Syria  against  Orodes.^ 
These  intrigues  seem  to  have  first  caused  the  war  to 
languish,  and  then  produced  the  recall  of  the  expedi- 
tion. Orodes  summoned  Pacorus  to  return  to  Parthia 
before  the  plot  contrived  between  him  and  the  llomans 
was  ripe  for  executi<m  ;  and  Pacorus  feltthnt  no  course 
was  open  to  him  but  to  obey.''^     The  Parthian  legions 


•  Dio  Cass.  xl.  29. 

'  Tbid.     Kaacioi  I'^x^l"^^  (ivrovi  ane- 
Kpovanro. 

"  Ibid.     Compare  Cic.  Ep.  ad  Att. 
■V.  20  ;  ad  Div.  ii.  10. 

Cic.  Kp.  ad  Att.  v.  21  ;  vi.  1. 


*  Cic.   Ep.  ad  Att.  v    21  :    '  Maxi- |  auhoiity. 


mum  bellum  impcndet.'  Compare 
ad  Att.  vi.  1  (p.  'Jltt) ;  ad  Div.  ii.  10. 

"  Dio  Bass.  xl.  30. 

'  Justin,  xlii.  4,  §  5.  The  t{7ne 
of  the  recall  is  misplaced  by  Justin, 
l)ut  the  fact  iMiiy  bo  accepted  on  liis 


CH.  XI.]       THE  PARTHIANS  RECEOSS  THE  EUPHRATES.       181 

recrossed  the  Euphrates  in  July,  b.c.  50 ;  and  the 
First  Roman  War,  which  had  lasted  a  little  more 
than  four  years,  terminated  without  any  real  recovery 
by  the  Romans  of  the  laurels  that  they  had  lost  at 
CarrhsB. 


182  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  fcH.  XU. 


CHAPTER  XIL 

Relatione  of  Orodes  with  Pompey,  and  with  Brutus  and  Cassius.  Second 
War  icith  Home.  Great  Parthian  Expedition  againxt  Syria,  Palestine, 
and  Asia  Minor.  Defeat  of  Saxa.  Occupation  of  Antioch  and  Je^-u- 
salem.  Parthia?is  driven  out  of  Syria  hy  Veutidius.  Death  of  Pacorus. 
Z^eath  of  Orodes. 

'  Jam  bis  Monoescs  et  Pncori  man  us 
Non  auspiciitos  coiitudit  impetus 
Nostros,  et  adjecisse  pnedain 
Torquibus  exiguis  reiiidet.' — Hor.  Od.  iii.  6,  10-13. 

!*H,%  -^ivil  troubles  that  had  seemed  to  threaten  Parthia 
; /cm  tl:6  ambition  of  the  youthful  Pacorus  passed  away 
withv^ui"  aay  explosion.  The  son  showed  his  obedience 
by  returniag  home  submissively  when  he  might  have 
flown  to  anas;  and  the  father  accepted  the  act  of 
obedience  as:  ^  sufficient  indication  that  no  rebellion 
had  been  serioi/sly  meant.  AVe  find  Pacoi-us  not  only 
allowed  to  livc^bu J  again  entrusted  a  few  years  later 
with  high  office  })j  tac  Parthian  monarch  ;  ^  and  on  this 
occasion  we  find  hi:ii  showino;  no  sio-ns  of  <lisaffection 
or  discontent. 

Nine  years,  however,  ^^apsed  between  the  recall  of 
the  young  pi-ince  and  hisroappointment  to  the  supreme 
command  asrainst  the  Romans.  Of  the  internal  condi- 
tion  of  Parthia  during  this  intbjval  we  have  no  account. 
Apparently,  Orodes  ruled  quietly  and  peaceably,  con- 


'  See  below,  p.  187.  It  appears  j  he  is  correcdy  called  'king'  by 
from  several  coins  of  Orodes,  which  :  Livy  {Ejnt.  cxxviii.),  Justin  (xlii. 
])ear  the  legend  HASIAKi2S  I!Ai;i-[4,  §  10),  and  Tacitus  [IFK  v.  9). 
AKQN  AI^XAKOT  'MaEAAIIXOS  See  upon  these  coins  Lindsay, 
KAI  AP2AK0Y  nAKOI'OT,  Wv.xi  History  and  coinage  of  the  Pir- 
Pacorus  was  associated  by  his  tfiiavs,'  pp.  147,  148,  and  compare 
father  in  the  povcrnment  during  '  PI.  3,  nos.  4!)  and  50. 
the  later  years  of  his  reign.      llciice  , 


CII. 


XII.] 


RELATIONS  OF  ORODES  WITH  POMPEY. 


183 


tenting  himself  with  the  gloiy  which  he  had  gained, 
and  not  anxious  to  tempt  fortune  by  engaging  in  any 
fresh  enterprise.  Tt  was  no  doubt  a  satisfaction  to  him 
to  see  the  arms  of  the  Romans,  instead  of  being  directed 
upon  Asia,  emphiyed  in  intestine  strife  ;  and  we  can 
well  understand  that  he  might  even  deem  it  for  his 
interest  to  foment  and  encourage  the  quarrels  which, 
at  any  rate  for  the  time,  secured  his  own  empire  from 
attack.  It  appears  that  communications  took  place  in 
the  year  B.C.  49  or  48,  between  him  and  Pompey,  a 
request  for  alliance  being  made  by  the  latter,  and  an 
answer  being  sent  by  Orodes,  containing  the  terms  upon 
which  he  would  consent  to  give  Pompey  effective  aid 
in  the  war.^  If  the  Poman  leader  would  deliver  into 
his  hands  the  province  of  Syria  and  make  it  wholly  over 
to  the  Parthians,  Orodes  would  conclude  an  alliance 
with  him  and"  send  help  ;  but  not  otherwise.  It  is  to 
the  credit  of  Pompey  that  he  rejected  tliese  terms,  and 
declined  to  secure  his  own  private  gain  by  depriving 
his  country  of  a  province.  Notwithstanding  the  failure 
of  these  negotiations  and  the  imprisonment  of  his 
envoy  Hirru?,^  when  a  few  months  later,  having  lost 
the  battle  of  Pharsalia,  the  unhappy  Roman  was  in 
need  of  a  refuge  from  his  great  enemy,  he  is  said  to 
have  prop-^sed  throwing  himself  on  the  friendship, 
or  mercy,  of  Orodes.^  He  had  hopes,  perhaps,  of 
enlisting  the  Parthian  battalions  in  his  cause,  and  of 
recovering  power  by  means  of  this  foreign  aid.  But  his 
friends  combated  his  design,  and  persuaded  him  that  the 
risk,  both  to  himself  and  to  his  wife,  Cornelia,  was  too 


'  Dio  Cass.  xli.  55.  Compare 
Justin,  xlii.  4,  §  G  (which,  however, 
is  an  overstatement)  and  Caes. 
Bell.  Cir.  iii.  82. 

^  Dio  Ca  s.  xhi.  2. 


'  Plut.  Pomp.  §  76  ;  Appian, 
Bell.  Cii).  ii.  p.  480,  A;  Veil.  Pat. 
ii.  53.  Dio  questions  the  truth  of 
tlie  report.      (1.  s.  c.) 


184 


THE  ses:th  monarchy. 


[CH.    XIL 


great  to  be  compatible  with  prudence.  Pompey  yielded 
to  their  representations ;  and  Orodes  escaped  the  diffi- 
culty of  having  to  elect  between  repulsing  a  suppliant, 
and  provoking  the  hostility  of  the  most  powerful  chief- 
tain and  the  greatest  general  of  the  age. 

Caesar  quitted  the  East,  in  B.C.  47,  without  entering 
into  any  communication  with  Orodes.  He  had  plenty  of 
work  upon  his  hands  ;  and  whatever  designs  he  may 
have  even  then  entertained  of  punishing  the  Parthian 
inroad  into  Syria,  or  avenging  the  defeat  of  Carrhse,^ 
he  was  wise  enough  to  keep  his  projects  to  himself  and 
to  leave  Asia  without  exasperating  by  threats  or  hostile 
movements  the  Power  on  which  the  peace  of  the  East 
principally  dej^ended.  It  was  not  until  he  had  brought 
the  African  and  Spanish  wars  to  an  end  that  he  allowed 
his  intention  of  leading  an  expedition  against  Parthia 
to  be  openly  talked  al)out.  In  b.c.  44,  four  years  after 
Pharsalia,  having  put  down  all  his  domestic  enemies, 
and  arranged  matters,  as  he  thought,  satisfactorily  at 
Rome,  he  let  a  decree  be  passed  formally  assigning  to 
him  '  the  Parthian  War,'  -^  and  sent  the  legions  across 
the  Adriatic  on  their  way  to  Asia.  What  plan  of 
compaign  he  may  have  contemplated  is  uncertain;^ 
but  there  cannot  be  a  doul)t  that  an  expedition  under 
his  auspices  would  have  Ijeen  a  most  serious  danger  to 
Parthia,  and  might  have  terminated  in  her  subjection. 
The  military  talents  of  the  Great  Dictator  were  of  the 


'  The  (Icsif^n  is  attributed  to  him 
at  tJiis  time  by  Dio,  or  ratlier  l)y 
Antony,  as  reported  by  Dio  (xliv.  46.) 

'  Dio  Cass,  xliii.  61. 

'  Suetonius  represents  him  as 
intciidin<^  to  enter  Parthia  l)y  way 
of  the  Lesser  Armenia,  and  to  pto- 
ceed  cautiously  t  >  try  tlie  stren<;th 
of    the    Parthians    before    engnging 


them  in  battle  (Jul  §  44).  Plu- 
tarch says  that  he  meant,  after 
conquering  the  Parthians,  to  pro- 
ceed by  the  Cas|)ian  and  the  Cau- 
oiisus  into  Scythia,  from  Scythia  to 
a-sail  the  Germans,  and  when  he 
h:ul  overrun  Germany,  to  return 
into  Italy  by  way  of  Gaul  (Jul. 
§  08). 


CH.  XII.]  RELATIONS  WITH  BRUTUS  AT^D  CASSIUS.  185 

most  splendid  description  ;  liis  powers  of  organisation 
and  consolidation  enormous ;  his  prudence  and  caution 
equal  to  his  amVjitioii  and  his  courage.  Once  launched 
on  a  career  of  conquest  in  the  East,  it  is  impossible  to 
say  whither  he  might  not  have  carried  the  Roman 
eagles,  or  what  countries  h,e  might  not  have  added  to 
the  Empire.  But  Parthia  was  saved  from  the  immi- 
nent peril  without  any  effort  of  her  own.  The  daggers 
of 'the  Liberators'  struck  down  on  the  15th  of  March, 
B.C.  44,  the  only  man  whom  she  had  seriously  to  fear ; 
and  with  the  removal  of  Julius  passed  away  even  fr-om 
Roman  thought  for  many  a  year  ^  the  design  which 
he  had  entertained,  and  which  he  alone  could  have 
accomplished. 

In  the  civil  war  that  followed  on  the  murder  of 
Julius,  the  Parthians  are  declared  to  have  actually 
taken  a  part.  It  appears  that — about  B.C.  46 — a  small 
body  of  Parthian  horse-archers  had  been  sent  to  the 
assistance  of  a  certain  J^assus,^  a  Roman  who  amid  the 
troubles  of  the  times  was  seeking  to  obtain  for  himself 
something  like  an  independent  principality  in  Syria. 
The  soldiers  of  Bassus,  after  a  while  (b.o.  43),  went 
over  in  a  body  to  Cassius,  who  was  in  the  East  collect- 
ing troops  for  his  great  struggle  with  Antony  and 
Octavian  ;  and  thus  a  handful  of  Parthians  came  into 
his  power.^  Of  tliis  circumstance  he  determined  to 
take  advantage,  in  order  to  obtain,  if  possible,  a  con- 
siderable body  of  troops  from  Orodes.  He  presented 
each  of  the  Parthian  soldiers  with  a  sum  of  money, 
and   dismissed  them  all  to  their  homes,  at  the  same 


'  No  attempt  was  made  seriously  ]  Antony's  invasion  was  a  mere  osten- 


to  curtail  the  Parthian  power,  much 
less  to  conquer  the  Parthian  State, 
until  the  time  of  Trajan  (ad.  115), 
SI    hundred   and  sixty    years    later. 


tatious  raid  without  serious  object. 

■  Dio  Cass,  xlvii.  27. 

'  Appian,    Bell.   Civ.  \y.  pp.  623, 
624. 


186  THE    SIXTH    MOITAECHY.  [CH.  XII. 

time  seizing  the  opportunity  to  send  some  of  his 
own  officers,  as  ambassadors,  to  Orodes,  with  a  request 
for  substantial  aid.^  On  receiving  tliis  application  the 
Parthian  monarch  appears  to  have  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  it  was  to  his  interest  to  comply  with  it. 
Whether  he  made  conditions,  or  no,  is  uncertain  ;  but 
he  seems  to  have  sent  a  pretty  numerous  body  of 
horse  to  the  support  of  the  '  Liberators '  against  their 
antagonists.^  Perhaps  he  trusted  to  obtain  from  the 
gratitude  of  Cassius  what  he  had  failed  to  extort  from 
the  fears  of  Pompey.  Or,  perhaps,  he  was  only 
anxious  to  prolong  the  period  of  civil  disturbance 
in  the  Koman  State,  Avhich  secured  his  own  territory 
from  attack,  and  might  ultimately  give  him  an  op- 
portunity of  helping  liimself  to  some  portion  of  the 
Poman  dominions  in  Asia. 

The  opportunity  seemed  to  him  to  have  arrived 
in  B.C.  40.  Philippi  had  been  fought  and  lost.  The 
'  Liberators '  were  crushed.  The  struggle  between  the 
Pepublicans  and  the  Monarchists  had  come  to  an  end. 
But,  instead  of  being  united,  the  Roman  world  was 
more  than  ever  divided ;  and  the  chance  of  making 
an  actual  teri'itorial  gain  at  the  expense  of  the  tyrant 
power  appeared  fairer  than  it  had  ever  been  before.' 
Three  rivals  now  held  divided  sway  in  the  Roman 
State  ;^  each  of  them  jealous  of  the  other  two,  and 
anxious  for  his  own  aggrandisement.  The  two  chief 
pi'etenders  to  the  first  place  were  bitterly  hostile ; 
and  while  the  one  was  detained  in  Italy  by  insurrec- 

'  Appian,  7jV/.  rV?).  iv.  p.  625,  D,  E.  I  that    the    Parthians    lielpcd    Brutus 


authorities  arc  not  allo- 
frcther  a<;recd  on  this  point.  Dio 
says  (xlviii.  24)  that  Orodes  tem- 
porised,   and    neither    refu.sed    I  he 


and  Cassius  (  xlii.  4,  §  7)  and 
j\ppian  mentions  ihein  thrice  among 
the  iroops  who  fought  at  Philippi 
{Bell.  Cir.  p.  640,  C.  D). 


overtures  of  Cassius   nor   accepted        '  Octavinn.  Antony,  and  Lepidus. 
them.      But  Justin  di  tinctly  states  J  There  Avas  also  a  fourth,  Sext.  Pom 


CH.  Xn.]  SECOND    PARTHIAN    ATTACK    OX    EOME.  187 

tiou  against  his  authority,  the  other  was  plunged  in 
luxury  and  dissipation,  enjoying  the  first  delights  of  a 
lawless  passion,  at  the  Egyptian  capital.  The  nations 
of  the  East  were,  moreover,,  alienated  by  the  recent 
exactions  of  the  profligate  Triumvir,^  who,  to  reward 
his  parasites  and  favourites,  had  laid  upon  them  a 
burthen  that  they  were  scarcely  able  to  bear.  Further, 
the  Parthians  enjoyed  at  this  time  the  advantage  of 
having  a  Roman  officer  of  good  position  in  tlieir 
service,^  whose  knowledge  of  the  Homan  tactics,  and 
influence  in  Koman  provinces,  might  be  expected  to 
turn  to  their  advantage.  Under  these  circumstances, 
when  the  spring  of  the  year  arrived,  Antony  being 
still  in  Egypt,  and  Octavian  (as  far  as  was  known) 
occupied  in  the  siege  of  Perusia,'^  the  Parthian  hordes, 
under  Labienus  and  Pacorus,  burst  upon  Syria  in 
greater  force  than  on  any  previous  occasion.  Over- 
running with  their  numerous  cavalry  the  country 
between  the  Euplirates  and  Antioch,  and  thence  the 
valley  of  the  Orontes,  they  had  (as  usual)  some  dif- 
ficulty with  the  towns.  From  Apamsea,  placed  (like 
Durham)  on  a  rocky  peninsula  almost  surrounded  by 
the  river,^  they  were  at  first  repulsed;^  Init,  having 
shortly  afterwards  defeated  Decidius  Saxa,  the  governor 
of  Syria,  in  the  open  field,  they  received  the  submis- 
sion of  Apam;ea  and  Antioch,  which  latter  city  Saxa 
abandoned  at  their  approach,  flying  precipitately  into 

peius,  who  f>rcel  himself  into  arrive;!.  Dreading  the  'pros,  rip- 
partnership  with  the  other  three  a  tion '  of  the  victors,  lie  deteniiiiied 
little  later.  to  continue  with  the  Parthians,  and 

'  Appian,  Bell.  Cu\  v.  p.  674.  i  to  put  his  services  at  their  disposal. 

"^  Q.   Libieiiiis,  the  son  of  Titus,        ^  P^^^rusia  was  taken  in   January, 

Cfesar's   k-gate   in   Gaul,    had  been  b.c  40  ;  but  the  news  of  its  capture 

sent  as  envoy  to  Orodes  by   iirutus  woidd  not  reach  Ctesiphon  Oir  some 

and  Cassius   (Dio   Cas.s.   xlviii.   24),  months, 
and     was     at    the     Parthian     Court        *  Strah.  xvi.  2,  §  10. 
when  news  of  the  defeat  at  Philippi        '■'  Dio  Cass,  xlviii.  25  (.§  108). 


188  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CU.  XII. 

Cilicia.^  Encouraged  by  these  successes,  Labienus  and 
Pacorus  agreed  to  divide  their  troops,  and  to  engage 
simultaneously  in  two  great  expeditions.  Pacorus 
undertook  to  carry  the  Parthian  standard  throughout 
the  entire  extent  of  Syria,  Phoenicia,  and  Palestine, 
while  Labienus  determined  to  invade  Asia  Minor,  and  to 
see  if  he  could  not  wrest  some  of  its  more  fertile  regions 
from  the  Romans.  Both  expeditions  were  crowned 
with  success.  Pacorus  reduced  all  Syria,  and  all 
Phoenicia,  except  the  single  city  of  Tyre,  which  he  was 
unable  to  capture  for  want  of  a  naval  force.^  He  then 
advanced  into  Palestine,  which  he  found  in  its  normal 
condition  of  intestine  commotion.^  Hyrcanus  and 
Antigonus,  two  princes  of  the  AsmonsBan  house, 
were  rivals  for  the  Jewish  crown;  and  the  latter, 
whom  Hyrcanus  had  expelled,  was  content  to  make 
common  cause  with  the  invader,  and  to  be  in- 
debted to  a  rude  foreigner  for  the  possession  of  the. 
kingdom  whereto  he  aspired.  He  offered  Pacorus  a 
thousand  talents,  and  jive  hundred  tTewish  women^  if 
he  would  espouse  his  cause  and  seat  him  upon  his 
uncle's  throne,*  The  offer  was  readily  embraced,  and 
by  the  irresistible  help  of  the  Partliians  a  revolution 
was  effected  at  Jerusalem.  Hyrcanus  was  deposed  and ' 
mutilated.  A  new  priest-king  was  set  \\^  in  the  person 
of  Antigonus,  the  last  Asmonaean  prince,  who  held  the 
capital  for  three  years — n.c.  40-37 — as  a  Parthian 
satrap,  the  creature  and  dependant  of  the  great 
monarchy  on  the  further  side  of  the  Euphrates. 
Meanwhile  in  Asia  Minor  Labienus  carried  all  before 
Ijiin.     Decidius    Saxa,  having  once  more   (in   Cilicia) 


'  Dio  Cass,  xlviii.  §§  108-110. 
'  Ibid,   xlviii.    26  (§    111).     Com- 
pare A[ii)ia'i,  BcIL  Civ.  v.  p.  701,  V>. 


^  Joseph.     Ant.     Jud.     liv.    13 
Pell.  Jml.  i.  13. 
^Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  i.  13,  §  1. 


ClI.    XII,]         SUCCESSES  OF  PACOEUS  AND  LABIENUS.  189 


ventured  upon  a  battle,  was  not  only  defeated,  but 
slain.^  Pampliylia,  Lycia,  and  Caria  were  overrun. 
Stratonicea  was  besieged;  Mylasa  and  Alabanda  were 
taken.-  According  to  some  writers,  the  Partbians 
even  pillaged  Lydia  and  Ionia,  and  were  in  possession 
of  Asia  to  tbe  shores  of  the  Hellespont.^  It  may  be 
said  that  for  a  full  year  AVestern  Asia  changed  masters ; 
the  I'ule  and  authority  of  Rome  disappeared  ;  and  the 
Parthians  were  recognised  as  the  dominant  power. 

But  the  fortune  of  war  now  bes^an  to  turn.  In  the 
autumn  of  b.c.  39,  Antony,  having  set  out  from  Italy 
to  resume  his  command  in  the  East,  despatched  his 
lieutenant,  PubliusVentidius,  into  Asia,  with  orders  to 
act  against  Lal)ienus  and  the  triumphant  Parthians.* 
Ventidius  landed  unexpectedly  on  the  coast  of  Asia 
Minor,  and  so  alarmed  Labienus,  who  had  no  Parthian 
troops  with  him,  that  the  latter  fell  back  hurriedly 
towards  Cilicia,  evacuating  all  the  more-  western  pro- 
vinces, and  at  the  same  time  seiidino;  urirent  messages 
to  Pacorus  to  implore  succour.  Pacorus  sent  a  body 
of  horse  to  his  aid;  but  these  troops,  instead  of  jmtting 
themselves  under  his  command,  acted  independently, 
and,  in  a  rash  attempt  to  surprise  the  Koman  camp, 
were  defeated  by  Ventidius,  whereupon  they  fled 
hastily  into  Cilicia,  leaving  Labienus  to  his  fate.^  The 
self-styled  '  Imperator,'  "^  upon   this,  deserted  his  men, 


'  Dio  Cass,  xlviii.  25,  ad  Jin. 

"  Il)i(l.  xlviii.  26.  Compare  Strab. 
xiv.  2,  §  24. 

'  Plut.  Anton.  §  30  ;  Appian, 
Parth.  p.  156,  A. 

*  Dio  Cass,  xlviii.  39  ;  Plut.  An- 
ton. §  33. 

'  bio  Ca<s.  xlviii.  40. 

*  Labionus  styled  himself  '  Im- 
perator Part  hicus'  (Strab.  l.s.c.  ;  D\o 
Cass,  xlviii.  26,  ad  jin.)  ;   and  even 


put  this   ridiculous    title   upon    his 
coins — 


Coin  of  LabienuB. 


190 


THE    SIXTH    MOIST AECHY. 


[CH.   XII. 


and  sought  safety  in  fliglit ;  but  his  retreat  was  soon 
discovered,  and  he  was  pursued,  captured,  and  put  to 
death.^ 

The  Parthians,  meanwhile,  ahirnied  at  the  turn 
which  affairs  had  taken,  left  Antigonus  to  maintain 
their  interests  in  Palestine,  and  concentrated  themselves 
in  Northern  Syria  and  Commagene,  where  they  awaited 
the  advance  of  the  Romans.  A  strong  detachment, 
under  Pharnaj)ates,  was  appointed  to  guard  the  Syrian 
Gates,  or  narrow  pass  over  Mount  Anumus,  leading  from 
Cilicia  into  Syria.~  Here  Ventidius  gained  another 
victory.  He  had  sent  forward  an  oJSicer  named 
Pompaedius  Silo  with  some  cavalry  to  endeavour  to 
seize  this  post,  and  Pompcedius  had  found  himself  com- 
pelled to  an  engagement  with  Pharuapates,  in  which 
he  was  on  the  point  of  suffering  defeat,  when  Ventidius 
himself,  who  had  probably  feared  for  his  subordinate's 
safety,  appeared  on  the  scene,  and  turned  the  scale  in 
favour  of  the  llomans.  The  detachment  under  Pharua- 
pates was  overpowered,  and  Pharoapates  himself  Avas 
among  the  slain. ^  When  news  of  this  defeat  reached 
Pacorus,  he  resolved  to  retreat,  and  withdrew  his 
troops  across  the  Euphrates.  This  movement  he  ap- 
pears to  have  executed  without  being  ^molested  by 
Ventidius,  who  thus  recovered  Syria  to  the  lvomaui=j 
towards  the  close  of  b.c.  39,  or  early  in  B.C.  38. 

But  Pacorus  was  far  from  intending  to  relinquish 
the  contest.  He  had  made  himself  popular  among  the 
Syrians  by  his  mild  and  just  adniinsti'ation,'  and  knew 


'  Dio  Cass,  xlviii.  40,  ad  fin.  ; 
Pint.  Avton.  %  3:5. 

■"  Por  tlic  position  of  tliis  puss, 
see  Strahf),  xv.  2,  §  8. 

'  DioCiss.  xlviii.  41  ;  Pint.  l.s.  c.  ; 
Stral).  1.  9.  c. 


*  Dio      Cass.      xlix.      20.         T(> 

rin/f'ipoi'  hfioia  roli  /idXtnra  tmi>  ■mltiroTE 
(■fnrsi'/.frvGavTuv    koI.    ittl    (hKatom/vrj    Kfit 


CIL    XII.]  VICTOIUES    OF    VEXTIDIUS.  191 

tliat  they  preferred  liis  govern iiient  to  that  of  the 
Komans.  He  had  many  allies  among  the  petty  princes 
and  dynasts/ who  occupied  a  semi-independent  position 
on  the  borders  of  the  Parthian  and  Roman  empires. 
Antigonus,  whom  he  had  estaldished  as  king  of  the 
Jews,  still  maintained  himself  in  Judrea  ao-ainst  the 
efforts  of  Herod,^  to  whom  Augustus  and  Antony 
had  assigned  the  throne.  Pacoi'us  therefore  arranged 
during  the  remainder  of  the  winter  for  a  fresh  invasion 
of  Syria  in  the  spi'ing,  and,  taking  the  field  earlier  than 
his  adversary  expected,  made  ready  to  recross  the 
Euphrates.  AVe  are  told  that  if  he  had  ci'ossed  at  the 
usual  point,  he  would  have  found  the  Romans  unpre- 
pared, the  legions  being  still  in  their  winter  (j^uarters, 
some  north  and  some  south  of  the  ran2:e  of  Taurus.^ 
Ventidius,  however,  contrived  by  a  stratagem  to  induce 
him  to  e"ffect  the  passage  at  a  different  point,  considerably 
lowei'  down  the  stream,  and  in  this  way  to  waste  some 
valuable  time,  which  he  himself  employed  in  collecting 
his  scattered  forces.  Thus,  when  the  Parthians  ap- 
peared oil  the  right  bank  of  the  Euphrates,  the  Roman 
general  was  prepared  to  engage  them,  and  ^vas  not 
even  loth  to  decide  the  fate  of  the  war  by  a  single 
battle.  He  had  taken  care  to  provide  himself  with  a 
strong  force  of  slingers,  and  had  entrenched  liimself 
in  a  position  on  high  ground  at  some  distance  from 
the  river.^  The  Parthians,  finding  their  passage  of  the 
Euphrates  unopposed,  and,  when  they  fell  in  with  the 
enemy,  seeing  him  entrenched,  as   though  i-esolved  to 


'  As    Antiochus,    king    of    Com- [      "  Joseph.  Ant.  Jii J.  x'w.  15;  Bell. 
magfinii;       Lysanias,      tctrarch      of  i /w<^?.  i.  15,  IG. 


Itursea;  Malchus,  sheikh  of  the 
Nabatiiean  Arabs  ;  Chavnauis,  Anti 
ironns,  and  others.  (Dio  Cass 
"xlviii.  41  ;  xli.v.  I'.i,  32,  &c.) 


Dio  Cass.  xlix.  19. 
Ibid.  20. 


192  TIIE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  XH 

act    only   on    tlie    defensive,    became  overbold ;    they 
thouglit  the  force  opposed  to  them  must  be  weak  or 
cowardly,  and  might  yield  its  position  witlioiit  a  blow, 
if  briskly  attacked.     Accordingly,  as  on  a  former  occa- 
sion/ they  charged  up  the  hill  on  which  tlie  Roman 
camp  was  placed,  hoping  to  take  it  by  sheer  audacity. 
But  the  troops  inside   were  held    ready,  and  at   the 
proper   moment   issued    forth ;    the    assailants    found 
themselves  in  their  turn  assailed,  and,  fighting  at  a  dis- 
advantage  on  the  slope,  were  soon  driven  dow^n  the 
declivity.     The  battle  was  renew-ed  in  the  plain  below, 
where  the  mailed  horse  of  the  Parthians  made  a  brave 
resistance  ;  l)ut  the  slingers  galled  them  severely,  and 
in  the  midst  of  the  struggle  it  happened  that  by  ill- 
fortune  Pacorus  was  slain.     The  result  followed  which 
is  almost  invariable  with  an  Oriental  army  :  having  lost 
their  leader,  the  soldiers  everywhere  gave  way  ;    flight 
became  universal,  and  the  Romans  gained  a  coni])lete 
victory.^     The  Parthian   army   fled   in  two  directions. 
Part   made  for  the  bridge  of  boats  l)y  which  it  had 
crossed   the  Euphrates,  _  but  was  intercepted    l)y   the 
Romans  and  destroyed.     Part  turned  northwards  into 
Commagene,   and   there   took    refuge    with    the    king, 
Antiochus,    who    refused    to    surrender   tlieni    to    the 
demand  of  Ventidius,  and  no  doubt  allowed  them  to 
return  to  their  own  country. 

Thus  (nided  tlie  great  Parthian  invasion  of  Syria,  and 
with  it  ended  the  pros])ect  of  any  further  spread  of  the 
Arsacid  dominion  towards  the  west.  When  the  two 
great  powers,  Rome  and  Parthia,  first  came  into  col- 
lision— when  the  first  blow  struck  by  the  latter,  the 


'  See  iibove.  p.  100.  |  20),   rather  tliun    Justin's    (xlli.  4) 

^  In    (IcscrihiiiK     this     })iittle,     I    as  at  once  more  graphic  and  more 
have    followed    Dio's  account  (xlix.  j  probable. 


CII.  XII.]  ROMANS    AND    PARTIUANS    COMPAlJED.  103 

destruction  of  the  ai-niy  of  Crassus,  was  followed  up  by 
the  advance  of  their  clouds  of  horse  into  Syria,  Pales- 
tine, and  Asia  Minor — when  Apama^a,  Antioch,  and 
Jerusalem  fell  into  theii*  hands,  when  Decidius  'oaxa 
was  defeated  and  slain,  Cilicia,  Pamphylia,  Caiia, 
Lydia,  and  Ionia  occupied — it  seemed  as  if  Rome  had 
found,  not  so  much  an  equal,  as  a  superior  ;  it  looked 
as  if  the  power  heretofore  predominant  ^vould  be  com- 
pelled to  contract  her  frontiei',  and  as  if  Parthia  would 
advance  hers  to  the  Eo-ean  or  the  Mediterranean.  The 
history  of  the  contest  between  the  East  and  the  West, 
between  Asia  and  Europe,  is  a  history  of  reactions. 
At  one  time  one  of  the  continents,  at  another  time  the 
other,  is  in  the  ascendant.  The  time  appeared  to  have 
come  when  the  x\siatics  were  once  more  to  recover 
their  own,  and  to  beat  back  the  European  aggressor  to 
his  proper  shoi-es  and  islands.  The  triumphs  achieved 
by  the  Seljukian  Turks  between  the  eleventh  and 
the  fifteenth  centuries  Avould  in  that  case  have  been 
antici})ated  by  aV)ove  a  thousand  years  thi'ough  the 
efforts  of  a  kindred,  and  not  dissimilar  peo[)le.^  But 
it  turned  out  that  the  effort  made  was  premature. 
AYhile  the  Parthian  warfai'e  was  admirably  adapted  for 
the  national  defence  on  the  broad  plains  of  inner  Asia, 
it  was  ill  suited  for  conquest,  and,  comparatively 
speaking,  ineffective  in  more  contracted  and  difficult 
regions.  The  Parthian  military  system  had  not  the 
elasticity  of  the  Roman — it  did  not  in  the  same  way 
adapt  itself  to  circumstances,  or  admit  of  the  addition 
of  new  arms,  or  the  indefinite  expansion  of  an  old  one. 
However  loose  and  seemingly  flexible,  it  was  rigid  in 
its  uniformity  ;  it  never  altered  ;  it  remained  under  the 

'  Supra,  p.  25. 


194:  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY:  [cH.   XII. 

tliirtietli  Arsaces  sucli  as  it  bad  been  under  the  first, 
improved  in  details,  perhaps,  but  essentially  the  same 
system.  The  Komans,  on  the  contrary,  were  ever 
modifying  their  system,  ever  learning  new  combinations 
or  new  manoeuvres  or  new  modes  of  warfare  from  their 
enemies.  They  met  the  Parthian  tactics  of  loose  array, 
continuous  distant  missiles,  and  almost  exclusive  em- 
ployment of  cavalry,  with  an  increase  in  the  number 
of  their  own  horse,  a  larger  employiuent  of  auxiliary 
irregulars,  and  a  greater  use  of  the  sling.*  At  the 
same  time  they  learnt  to  take  full  advantage  of  the 
Parthian  inefficiency  against  walls,  and  to  practice 
against  them  the  arts  of  pretended  retreat  and  ambush. 
The  result  was,  that  Parthia  found  she  could  make  no 
impression  upon  the  dominions  of  Pome,  and  having 
become  persuaded  of  this  by  the  experience  of  a  decade 
of  years,  thenceforth  laid  aside  for  evei'  the  idea  of 
attempting  Western  con(|uests.  She  took  up,  in  fact, 
from  this  time,  a  new  attitude.  Hitherto  she  had  l)een 
consistently  aggressive.  She  had  laboured  constantly 
to  extend  herself  at  the  expense  successively  of  the 
Bactrians,  the  Scythians,  the  Syro-Macedonians,  and 
the  Armenians,  SIk;  liad  proceeded  from  one  aggres- 
sion to  another,  leaving  only  short  intervals  between 
her  wars,  and  had  always  been  looking  out  for  some 
fi'esh  enemy.  II(3nceforth  she  became,  comparatively 
speaking,  pacific.  She  was  content  for  tlie  most  ])art, 
to  maintain  her  limits.  She  sought  no  new  foe.  Her 
contest   with  Pome   dcijrenerated  into   a  struo-ji-le   for 


'  Compare  on  tliis  point  Diojrwr  t6^ov  levreZ,  irnpra  h-ai  t<)v 
Cass.  xlix.  20,  and  20,  with  Pint.  'i<nrd(j>i)aKT()V  'inxvpOS  tAvfinivniTO — 
Jnton.  §  41.  Note  especially  ihe'anfl  the  fact  imi)lic(l  in  Plutarch 
statement  of  Dio  :— oi  c(i)Ev6ov}/Tni,  j  tliat  (he  slinijers  ii-ed  leaden  bullets 
Tro'/2ol    T£    ovrei,    Kcii    // a /c /9  o  r  £  p  6;  |  (,uf)AwWttr)  instead  of  stones. 


CII.  XII.] 


ABDICATION    OF    ORODES    I. 


195 


influence  over  the  kingdom  of  Armenia;  and  her  hopes 
were  limited  to  the  reduction  of  that  kingdom  into  a 
subject  position. 

The  death  of  Pacorus  is  said  to  have  caused  Orodes 
intense  grief. ^  For  many  days  he  would  neither  eat 
nor  speak ;  then  his  sorrow  took  another  turn.  He 
imagined  that  his  son  had  "returned  ;  he  tliought  con- 
tinually that  he  heard  or  saw  him;  he  could  do  nothing 
but  i-epeat  his  name.  Every  now  and  then,  liowever, 
he  awoke  to  a  sense  of  the  actual  fact,  and  mourned 
the  death  of  his  favourite  with  tears.  After  a  while 
this  extreme  grief  wore  itself  out,  and  the  aged  king 
began  to  direct  his  attention  once  more  to  pul)lic  affairs. 
He  grew  anxious  about  the  succession.^  Of  the  thirty 
sons  who  still  remained  to  him  there  was  not  one  who 
had  made  himself  a  name,  or  was  in  any  way  distin- 
guished above  the  i-emainder.  In  the  absence  of  any 
personal  ground  of  preference,  Orodes — who  seems  to 
have  regarded  himself  as  possessing  a  right  to  nominate 
the  son  who  should  succeed  him — tliought  the  claims 
of  primogeniture  deserved  to  l)e  considered,  and 
selected  as  his  successor  Phraates,  the  eldest  of  the 
thirty.^  Not  content  with  nominating  him,  or  perhaps 
doubtful  whether  the  nomination  would  be  accepted 
by  the  Megistanes,  he  proceeded  further  to  abdicate  in 
his  favour,  whereupon  Phraates  became  king.  The 
transaction  proved  a  most  unhappy  one.  Phraates, 
jealous  of  some  of  his  brothers,  who  were  the  sous  of 
a  princess  married  to  Orodes,^  whereas  his  ow^n  mother 
was  only  a  concubine,  removed  them  by  assassination. 


'  Justin,  xlii.  4,  §§  12-13. 
pate  Dio  Cass.  xlix.  23. 
"^  Justin,  xlii.  4,  §  14, 
'  Dio  Cass.  xlix.  23. 


Com- 


*  Orodes  had  marrifd  a  daughter 
of  Antiochus,  king  of  Comiuagen^ 
(Dio  Cass.  1.  s.  c.) 


196  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY  [CH.  XII. 

and  when  the  ex-monarch  ventured  to  express  dis- 
approval of  the  act,  added  the  crime  of  parricide  to 
fratricide  by  putting  to  death  his  aged  father.^  Thus 
perished  Orodes,  after  a  reign  of  eighteen  years — the 
most  memorable  in  the  Parthian  annals. 


'  According  to  Plutarch  (Crass. 
§  33)  Phraates  first  attempted  his 
father's    destructiou    by  means  of 


poisoD,  but  the  poison  faih'ng  to 
take  effect,  he  then  smothered  him 
with  his  pillow. 


CH.  XTTT.]  EEIGX    OF   PHKAATES  IV.  197 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

Beign  of  Phraates  IV.  His  cruelties.  Flight  of  Monmes  to  Antony. 
Antony's  great  Parthian  Expedition,  or  Invasion  of  Media  Atropatene. 
Its  Complete.  Failure.  Subsequent  Alliance  of  the  Median  King  with 
Antony.  War  hetueen  Parthia  and  Media.  Rebellion  raised  against 
Phraates  iy  Tiridates.  Phraates  expelled.  He  reovers  his  Throne 
with  the  help  of  the  Scythians.  His  dealings  with  Augustus.  His  death 
and  Character. 

'Redditnm  Cj'ri  solio  Phraatem 
Dissidens  plebi  miinero  bealorum 
Exiinit  Virtus.'— Hor.  Od.  ii.  2,  16-18. 

The  shedding  of  blood  is  like  '  the  letting  out  of 
water.'  When  it  once  begins,  none  can  say  where  it 
will  stop.  The  absolute  monarch  who,  for  his  own 
fancied  security,  commences  a  system  of  executions,  is 
led  on  step  by  step  to  wholesale  atrocities  from  which 
he  would  have  shrunk,  with  horror  at  the  outset. 
Phraates  had  removed  brothers  whose  superior  advan- 
tages of  birth  made  them  formidable  rivals.  He  had 
punished  with  death  a  father  who  ventured  to  blame 
his  act,  and  to  forget  that  by  abdication  he  had  sunk 
himself  to  the  position  of  a  subject.  Could  he  have 
stopped  here,  it  might  have  seemed  that  his  severities 
proceeded  not  so  much  from  cruelty  of  disposition  as 
from  political  necessity;  and  historians,  always  tender 
in  the  judgments  which  they  pass  on  kings  under  such 
circumstances,  would  probably  have  condoned  or  Justi- 
fied his  conduct.  But  the  taste  for  T)loodshed  grows 
with  the  indulgence  of  it.     In  a  short  time,  the  young 


198  THE    SIXTH    jMONARCHY.  [cIT,  XIII 

kino:  had  killed  all  his  remainina:  brothers,^  althouo-h 
their  birth  was  no  better  than  his  own,  and  there  was 
no  valid  ground  for  his  fearino-  them  \  and  soon  after- 
wards,  not  content  with  the  murder  of  his  ow^n  rela- 
tions, he  began  to  vent  his  fury  npon  the  Parthian 
nobles.  Many  of  these  suffered  death ;  ^  and  such  a 
panic  seized  the  order,  that  numbers  quitted  the 
country,  and  dispersed  in  different  directions,  content 
to  remain  in  exile  until  the  dano-er  wliich  threatened 
them  should  have  passed  by.  There  were  othei's, 
however,  who  were  not  so  patient.  A  body  of  chiefs 
had  fled  to  Antony,  among  whom  was  a  certain 
Moutieses,  a  nobleman  of  the  highest  rank,'^  ^vho  seems 
to  have  distinguished  himself  previously  in  the  Syrian 
wars.*  This  person  represented  to  Antony  that 
Phraates  had  by  his  tyrannical  and  bloody  conduct 
made  himself  hateful  to  his  sul^jects,  and  that  a  revo- 
lution could  easily  be  effected.  If  the  Konians  would 
support  him,  he  offered  to  invade  Parthia  ;  and  he 
made  no  doul)t  of  wresting  the  greater  portion  of  it 
from  the  hands  of  the  tyrant,  and  of  being  himself 
accepted  as  king.  In  that  case  he  would  consent  to 
hold  his  crown  of  thePomans,  who  might  depend  npon 
his  lldelity  and  gratitude.  Antony  is  said  to  have 
listened  to  these  overtures,  and  to  have  been  induced 
by  them  to  turn  his  thoughts  to  an  invasion  of  the 
Pai-tiiian  kingdom.'^  He  began  to  collect  troops  and 
to  ol)tain  allies  with  this  object.  He  entered  into 
negotiations    Avith    Artavasdes,  the    Armenian    kino^^ 


'  To  reconcile  Dio  (xlix.  23)  with  j      ^  Dio  Cass.  1.  s.  c. 
.Justin    (xlii.    4,   §    14\    it  is    ncces- '      '  T'l'it.  Anton.  §37.     'Av?)p  eni^a 
Kiiry  1o  Kiipfiose  th-it  the  m'Jir.dson  ;    ./'f  '.-"  ''^"  "r.f. 
of    AntiocliiH  wore  niiirrlercil    flirt.         ■*    ilor.  0/.  iii.  0,  0. 
tlio  sons  of    OrodiiS    by  his    c  nca-        ''  Dio  (!as-.  xlix.  24. 
bines  afterwards.  "  IbiU.  c.  25. 


CH.  XUI.]        RELATIONS  OF  MON.ESES  WITH  A^vTONT.        199 

who  seems  at  tliis  time  to  have  beeu  more  afraid  of 
Home  tliaii  of  Parthia,  and  engaged  him  to  take  a  part 
in  liis  projected  campaign.  He  spoke  of  emjdoying 
MoniTsses  in  a  separate  eAj)edition.  Under  tliese  cir- 
cumstances, Phraates  became  alarmed.  He  sent  a 
message  to  Mona3ses  witli  promises  of  pardon  and 
favour,  whicli  that  chief  thought  worthy  of  accej^tance. 
Hereupon  Momeses  repi'esented  to  Antony  that  by  a 
peaceful  return  he  miglit  pei'haps  do  him  as  much 
service  as  by  having  recourse  to  arms  ;  and  thougli 
Antony  was  not  persuaded,  he  thought  it  prudent  to 
profess  himself  well  satisfied,  and  to  allo\v  ^Momeses  to 
quit  him.  His  relations  with  Parthia,  he  said,  might 
perhaps  be  placed  on  a  proper  footing  ^vitlloat  a  war, 
and  he  was  quite  willing  to  try  negotiation.  His 
ambassadors  should  accompany  Mona^ses.  They  would 
l)e  instructed  to  demand  nothing  of  Phraates  but  the 
restoration  of  the  Roman  standards  taken  from  Crassus, 
and  the  liberation  of  such  of  the  captive  soldiers  as 
were  still  livino^.^ 

But  Antony  had  really  determined  on  ^var.  It  may 
be  doubted  whether  it  had  required  the  overtures  of 
Mona3ses  to  put  a  Parthian  expedition  into  his  thoughts. 
He  must  have  been  either  more  or  less  than  a  man  if 
the  successes  of  his  lieutenants  had  not  stirred  in  his 
mind  some  feeling  of  Jealousy,  and  some  desire  to 
throw  their  victories  into  the  shade  by  a  grand  and 
notable  achievement.  Especially  the  gloiy  of  Ventidius, 
who  had  l)een  allowed  the  mucli-coveted  honour  of  a 
triumph  at  Kome  on  account  of  his  defeats  of  the 
Parthians  in  Cilicia  and  Syria,"  must  have  moved  him 


-  Dio  Cass.  xlix.  24,  ad  fin.  \  38)    the    entrj-     '  P.    VEXTIOTYS 

^  The    'Fasti    triumphales'   give    PRO    COS.  EX    TAVllO    MONTE 
under    the  year  a.u.c.    715  (  =  b.c.  ,  E  L'   PARTHEIS.' 


200  THE    SIXTH    MONAKCHY.  [cH.    XIII. 

to  emulation^  and  have  caused  liim  to  cast  about  for 
some  means  of  exalting  his  own  military  reputation 
above  that  of  bis  subordinates.  For  this  purpose  no- 
thing, he  must  have  known,  would  be  so  effectual  as  a 
real  Parthian  success,  the  inflicting  on  this  hated  and 
dreaded  foe  of  an  unmistakable  humiliation,  the  dic- 
tating to  them  terms  of  peace  on  their  own  soil  after 
some  crashino;  and  overwhelmins;  disaster.  And,  after 
the  victories  of  Ventidius,  this  did  not  ajjpear  to  be  so 
very  difficult.  The  prestige  of  the  Parthian  name  was 
gone.  Poman  soldiers  couki  be  trusted  to  meet  them 
without  alarm,  and  to  contend  with  them  without 
undue  excitement  oi'  flurry.  The  weakness,  as  well  as 
the  strength,  of  their  military  system  had  come  to  be 
known  ;  and  expedients  had  been  devised  by  which  its 
strong  points  were  met  and  counterbalanced.^  At  the 
head  of  sixteen  legions,^  Antony  mi^lit  well  think  that 
he  could  invade  Parthia  successfully,  and  not  only 
avoid  the  fate  of  Crassus,  but  gather  laurels  which 
might  serve  him  in  good  stead  in  his  contest  with  his 
great  political  rival. 

Nor  can  the  Roman  general  be  taxed  with  undue 
precipitation  or  with  attacking  in  insufficient  force. 
He  had  begun,  as  already  noticed,  with  securing  the 
co-operation  of  the  Armenian  king,  Artavasdes,  who 
promised  him  a  contingent  of  7,000  foot  and  6,000 
horse.  His  Roman  infantry  is  estimated  at  60,000  ; 
besides  which  he  liad  10,000  Gallic  and  Ibei'ian  liorse, 
and  ^50,000  light  armed  and  cavalry  of  the  Asiatic 
allies.^       Ilis    own    army    thus    amounted   to   100,000 


'  S'C  above,  p.  lOi.  !      '  Th''se  iiiimhcrs  arc  t.ikcn  from 

■■'  So    Floras  (iv.   10)   ami    Jusiiii    Piiit.iich    {Au'dn.   §  87),    wn-  se  ac- 

(xlii.    5,   §  :J).      Livy    .say.s    cightt-cn    •  o  int    i-;    the    ino  t    circumstantial, 

fEpit.  cxxx.);  Vclleius  (ii.  82,  §   I),    and  (on  t'lc  wlidle)  the  one  most  to 

thirteen.  i  be  depended  upon. 


CII.  Xrir.]  PARTHIAN    EXPEDITIOX    OF    AXTOXY.  20] 

men ;  and,  with  the  Armenian  contingent,  his  entire 
force  would  have  been  113,0u0.  It  seems  that  it  was 
Lis  original  intention  to  cross  the  Euphrates  into  Meso- 
potamia, and  thus  to  advance  almost  in  the  footsteps  of 
Crassus  ;^  Init,  when  lie  reached  the  banks  of  the  river 
(about  midsummer  n.c.  87),  he  found  such  preparations 
made  to  resist  him,  that  he  abandoned  his  first  design, 
and,  turning  northwards,  entered  Armenia,  determined 
to  take  advantage  of  his  alliance  with  Artavasdes,  and 
to  attack  Parthia  with  Armenia  as  the  basis  of  his 
operations.  Artavasdes  gladly  received  him,  and  per- 
suaded him,  instead  of  penetrating  into  Parthia  itself, 
to  dii'ect  his  arms  against  the  territory  of  a  Parthian 
subject-ally,^  the  king  of  INIedia  Atropatene,  whose 
territories  adjoined  Armenia  on  the  south-east.  Arta- 
vasdes pointed  out  that  the  Median  monarch  was  absent 
from  his  own  country,  having  joined  his  troops  to  those 
wliich  Phraates  had  collected  for  the  defence  of  Parthia. 
His  territory  therefore  would  be  o2:)en  to  ravage,  and 
even  Praaspa,  his  capital,  might  prove  an  easy  prey. 
'J  he  prospect  excited  Antony,  who  at  once  divided  his 
troops,  and  having  given  orders  to  Oppius  Statianus  to 
follow  him  leisurely  with  the  more  unwieldy  part  of 
the  army,  the  baggage-train,  and  the  siege  batteries, 
proceeded  himself  l)y  forced  marches  to  Pi-aaspa  with 
all  the  cavalry  and  the  infantry  of  the  better  class.^ 
This  town  was  situated  at  the  distance  of  nearly  three 
hundred  miles  from  the  Armenian  frontier:^  but  the 


'  Dio  Cass.  xlix.  25.  I      *  See    below,    p.    204.       On    the 

-  Media  AtropatC-nG  was  some- 1  identity  of  D\o's  Praaspa  (the  Vera 
times  subject  I o  Parthia,  sometimes  ■  of  Stmbo.  xi.  13,  §  3)  with  the 
independent.  That  at  this  time  it  modern  Takht-i-Siileiman,  see  a 
was  dependent  appears  from  tlie  1  paper  by  Sir  II.  Rawlinson  in  the 
whole  n:irralive  of  the  war  in  Plu-  Geographical  Journal,  vol.  x.  p. 
tarch  and  Dio.  113  117. 

'  Dio  Cass.  I.  s.  c.  I 


202  ,    THE   SIXTH    JMONARCHY.  [CH.    XIIl 

way  to  It  lay  tliroiigli  well-cultivated  plains,  where  food 
and  water  were  abundant.  Antony  performed  the 
march  without  difficulty,  and  at  once  invested  the 
place.  The  walls  were  strong,  and  the  defenders 
numerous,  so  that  he  made  little  impression  ;  and  when 
the  Median  king  returned,  accompanied  by  his  Parthian 
suzerain,  to  the  defence  of  his  country,  the  capitalseemed 
in  so  little  dano-er  that  it  was  resolved  to  direct  the  first 
attack  on  Statianus,  who  had  not  yet  joined  his  chief. 
A  most  successful  onslaught  was  made  on  this  officer, 
who  was  surprised,  defeated,  and  slain.^  Ten  thousand 
Komaus  fell  in  the  battle,^  and  all  the  l)ai>:i''a2:e-wao:ons 
and  engines  of  war  w^ere  taken.  A  still  worse  result 
of  the  defeat  was  the  desertion  of  Artavasdes,  who,  re- 
gard ing  the  case  of  the  Ilomans  as  desperate,  drew  oft' 
his  ti'oops,  and  left  Antony  to  his  own  resources.^ 

The  Roman  general  now  found  liimself  in  great  dif- 
ficulties. He  had  exhausted  the  immediate  neighbour- 
hood of  Praaspa,  and  was  obliged  to  send  his  foraging- 
parties  on  distant  ex})editious,  where,  being  beyond  the 
I'eacli  of  his  ])rotection,  they  were  attacked  and  cut  to 
pieces  by  the  enemy.^  He  had  lost  liis  siege-train,  and 
found  it  impossible  to  construct  another.  Such  works 
as  he  attemi)ted  suffered  throuii-h  the  sallies  of  the  be- 
sieged;  and  in  some  of  these  his  soldiers  behaved  so  ill 
that  he  was  forccfl  to  punish  their  cowardice  by  deci- 
mation."^ His  su[)[)lies  failed,  and  he  had  to  feed  his 
trooi)S  oil  barley  instead  of  wheat.  Meantime  the 
autumnal  e({uinox  was  approaching,   and   the  weather 


*  Plut.  Anton.  §  ;?8,  ad  fin.;    Dio    82,  §  2.  '  Pint.  Anton.  §  89. 

Cass.  xlix.  25.  '  ;      ■•  Dio  Cass.  xlix.  20. 


'^  So  Plutarcli  (1.  s.  c).  The  '  two 
legions 'of  l-ivy  (' diiabus  legionibiis 
aiiiissis,'  p]/i!i.  cxxx  )  s"e:n  to  refer 
to  this  battle.     Compare  Veil.  Pat.  ii. 


''   Pint.  Anton.  §  oO,  <td  Jin.  ;   DJQ 
Cass.  xlix.  27. 


Cir.  XIII.]  ANTONY    13   FORCED    TO    RETIRE. 


203 


was  becomiiii?"  cold.  The  Medes  and  Parthians,  under 
tlieir  respective  nionarchs,  luing  about  liirn,  impeded 
Lis  movements,  and  cut  off  his  stragglers,  but  carefully 
avoided  engaging  Iniu  in  a  pitched  battle.  If  he  could 
have  forced  the  city  to  a  surrender,  he  \vould  have 
been  in  compai-ative  safety,  for  he  might  have  gone 
into  winter  quarters  there  and  have  renewed  the  war 
in  the  ensuing  spring.  But  all  his  assaults,  with  v»diat- 
ever  desperation  they  were  made,  failed  ;  and  it  became 
necessary  to  relinquish  the  siege  and  retire  into  Armenia 
before  the  rio-ours  of  winter  should  set  in.  lie  could, 
however,  with  difficulty  Tu'ing  himself  to  make  a  con- 
fession of  failure,  and  flattered  liimself  for  a  while  that 
the  Parthians  would  consent  to  purchase  his  I'etirement 
by  the  surrender  of  the  Crassian  captives  and  standards. 
Having  lost  some  valuable  time  in  negotiations,  at 
which  the  Parthians  laughed,^  at  length,  when  the 
equinox  was  passed,  he  broke  up  from  before  Praaspa, 
and  commenced  the  ^vork  of  retreat.  There  were  two 
roads  ^  by  which  he  might  reach  the  Araxes  at  the 
usual  point  of  passage.  One  lay  towards  the  left, 
through  a  plain  and  open  country,'^  probably  that 
through  which  he  had  come ;  the  other,  which  was 
shorter,  Ijut  more  difficult,  lay  to  the  right,  leading 
across  a  mountain-tract,  but  one  fairly  supplied  with 
water,  and  in  which  there  were  inhabited  villages. 
Antony  was  advised  that  the  Parthians  had  occupied 
tbe  easier  route,"*  expecting  that  he   would  follow   it. 


'  Dio  Cass,  xli'x.  27;  Plut.  Anton. 
§40. 

"^  Plut.  Anton.  §  4-1. 

'  If  Praasda  was,  as  is  piolnible, 
the  modern  Takht-i-Sulciuian,  ttiis 
would  be  the  route  along  the  course 
of    the    Jaorhetu    and    the    eastern 


shores  of  Lake  Urumij'ch,  whicli  is 
the  road  an  army  would  naturally 
follow.  (See  Gcoffrnjih.  Journ.  vol. 
X.  p.  115.) 

''  Plut.  1.  s.  c.   Compare  Dio  Cass. 
-xli-K.  28. 


204  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    XIII. 

and  intended  to  overwlielm  him  with  their  cavalry  in 
the  plains.  lie  therefore  took  the  road  to  the  right 
through  a  rugged  and  inclement  country — probably 
that  between  Tahkt-i-Sulenuan  and  Tabriz  *  —  and, 
guided  by  a  Mardian  who  knew  the  region  well,  pro- 
ceeded to  make  his  way  back  to  the  Araxes.  His 
decision  took  the  Parthian s  by  surprise,  and  for  two 
days  he  was  unmolested.  But  by  the  third  day  they 
had  thrown  themselves  across  his  path ;  and  thence- 
forward, for  nineteen  consecutive  days,  they  disputed 
with  Antony  every  inch  of  his  retreat,  and  inflicted  on 
him  the  most  serious  damage.  The  sufferings  of  the 
Roman  army  during  tliis  time,  says  a  modern  historian 
of  Ivome,^  were  unparalleled  in  their  military  annals. 
The  intense  cold,  the  blinding  snow  and  driving  sleet, 
the  want  sometimes  of  provisions,  sometimes  of  water, 
the  use  of  poisonous  herbs,  and  the  harassing  attacks 
of  the  enemy's  cavalry  and  bowmen,  which  could  only 
be  i-epelled  by  maintaining  the  dense  array  of  the 
phalanx  or  the  tortoise,  reduced  the  retreating  army 
by  one-third  of  its  numbers.  At  length,  after  a  march 
of  300  lioman,  or  277  British,  miles,  they  reached  the 
river  Araxes,  probably  at  the  Julfti  ferry,  and,  crossing 
it,  found  themselves  in  Armenia.  But  the  calamities 
of  the  return  were  not  yet  ended.  Though  it  was 
arranged  with  Artavasdes  that  the  bulk  of  the  army 
should  winter  in  Armenia,"  yet,  before  the  various 
detachments  could  reach  their  quarters  in  diiferent 
parts  of  the  country,  eight  thousand  more  had  perished 
through  the  effects  of  past  sufferings  or  the  severity  of 


*  SirH.  Rawlinson  has  sliown  tliat  I      '  Merivale,    Jioman   Empire,    vol. 
this  routecorrcspond.-^  in  ever}' partic-    ii.  p.  289. 
ular  1o  tliat  dcscrihcHl  l)y  IMutarch.        ^   Dio  Cass.  xlix.  31. 
[Oeorjrajjh.  Jour.Y olx.  pp.  115-117.)  ] 


CH.   XIII.]  DISASTERS    OF    THE    KETREAT.  205 

the  weather.'  Altogether,  out  of  the  hundred  thousand 
men  whom  Antony  led  into  Media  Atropatene,  less 
than  seventy  thousand  ^  remained  to  commence  the 
campaign  which  was  threatened  for  the  ensuing  year. 
Well  may  the  unfortunate  commander  have  exclaimed, 
as  he  com2iared  his  own  heavy  losses  with  the  light  ones 
of  Xenoplion  and  his  Greeks  in  these  same  regions, 
*  Oh,  those  Ten  Thousand!    those  Ten  Thousand!'' 

On  the  withdrawal  of  Antony  into  x\rmenia,  a  quarrel 
broke  out  between  Phraates  and  his  Median  vassal. 
The  latter  reo-arded  himself  as  wrono;ed  in  the  division 
made  of  the  Koman  spoils,"*  and  expressed  himself  with 
so  much  freedom  on  the  subject  as  to  offend  his  suze- 
rain. He  then  began  to  fear  that  he  had  gone  too  far, 
and  that  Phraates  would  punish  him,  by  depriving  him 
of  his  sovereignty.  Accordingly,  he  was  anxious  to 
obtain  a  powerful  alliance,  and  on  turning  over  in  his 
mind  all  feasi])le  political  combinations,  it  seems  to 
have  occurred  to  him  that  his  late  enemy,  Antony, 
might  be  disposed  to  take  him  under  his  protection. 
He  douVjtless  knew  that  Artavasdes  of  Armenia  had 
offended  the  Roman  leader  by  deserting  him  in  the 
hour  of  his  greatest  peril,  and  felt  that,  if  Antony  was 
intendino;  to  revensce  himself  on  the  traitor,  he  would 
be  glad  to  have  a  friend  on  the  Armenian  border.  He 
therefore  sent  an  ambassador  of  rank  ^  to  Alexandria, 


*  Plut.  Aiitoi.  §  51.  regard   the  army  as  reduced  on  its 

"  Floras  says  that  not  more  than    return  to  Armenia  from  100,000  to 
one-thiid  of  the  legionaries  escaped    66,000. 

(iv.  10) ;  Vellcius,  that  one-fourth  j  '  Plut.  Anton.  §  45,  ad  Jin.  i>Oeipo. 
of  the  soldiers  and  one-third  of  the  fihcov  6e  tto^.Awv,  aal  rijv  UdpBuv  oik 
attendants  perished  (ii.  82).  Plu-  (Kpiarajievuv  T:o7.1uKii  ava(pOiy^ac6ai 
tarch  estimates  the  loss  in  Media  !  t6v  'Avtuviov  loropovciv,  'Q  uvpioi. 
at  24,000  men  {A),ton.  §  50);  but'  *  Dio  Cass.  xlix.  33.  Flut.  Anton. 
it  is  doubtful  whether  he  means  to   §  52. 

include  in  this  the  10,000  destroyed        '  Polemo,  who  is  called  'king  of 
with  Statianus.     If   not,  he   would    Pontus '  (Dio  Cass.  xlix.  23) — that 


206  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY,  [CH.  XIIL 

wliere  Antony  was  passing  the  winter,  and  boldly  pro- 
posed the  alliance.  Antony  readily  accepted  it ;  he 
was  intensely  angered  by  the  conduct  of  the  Armenian 
monarch,  and  determined  on  punishing  his  defection ; 
he  viewed  the  Median  alliance  as  of  the  utmost  import- 
ance in  connection  with  the  design,  which  he  still 
entertained,  of  invading  Parthia  itself;^  and  he  saw  in 
the  powerful  descendant  of  Atropates  a  prince  whom 
it  would  be  w^ell  worth  his  while  to  bind  to  his  cause 
indissolubly.  He  therefore  embraced  the  overtures 
made  to  him  with  Joy,  and  even  rewarded  the  mes- 
senger who  had  brought  them  with  a  principality.' 
After  sundry  efforts  to  entice  Artavasdes  into  his 
power,  which  occupied  him  during  most  of  r>.c.  35,  in 
the  spring  of  e.g.  S-i  he  suddenly  appeared  in  Armenia. 
His  army,  which  had  remained  there  from  the  previous 
campaign,  held  all  the  more  important  positions,  and, 
as  he  professed  the  most  friendly  feelings  towards 
Artavasdes,  even  proposing  an  alliance  between  their 
families,^  that  prince,  after  some  hesitation,  at  length 
ventured  into  his  presence.  He  was  immediately  seized 
and  put  in  chains."*  Armenia  was  I'apidly  overi'un. 
Artaxias,  w^hom  the  Armenians  made  king  in  the  room 
of  his  father,  was  defeated  and  forced  to  take  refuge 
with  the  Parthians.  Antony  then  arranged  a  marriage 
between  the  daughter  of  the  Median  monarch^  and  his 
own  son  by  Cleopatra,  Alexandei",  and,  leaving  garrisons 

is,  of   the  portion    which   had    not  I      *  These  are  said  to  liave  l)een  at 
been    absorbed     into     the     Roman    first   of   silver    (l)io  t\'iss.  xlix.  39, 
Etnj)ire.       On    the   liistorv    of   this   ar/ _/?«.),  and  afterwards  of  gold  (ib. 
Polenio,   see  Clinton,  F.  11.  vol.  iii.  !  40  ;"  Yill.  Paterc.  ii.  82). 
p.  42S,  note  m.  ^  'I'his  king  had  the  same  name 

'  Plut.  yl?ito«.  §  52.  as    the    Armcniun     monarch — viz., 


Dio  Cass.  xlix.  33.  T^  Uo7ufimiL 
innOiiv  Tr'/S  KTjfWKeini  ttjv  niKpoTijiav 
'Ap/iri'lnv  flofi'at. 

"  Ibid.  xlix.  39. 


Artavasdes.  lie  has,  tlicrefore,  to 
prevent  confusion,  not  been  named 
in  the  text. 


CH.  Xin.]  ANTOXY   TUXISIiES   AiniEisnA.  207 

in  Armenia,  carried  off  Artavasdes  and  a  rieli  hooty 
into  Egypt. 

Phraates,  during  these  transactions,  stood  wholly 
upon  the  defensive.  It  may  not  have  heen  unpleasing 
to  him  to  see  Artavasdes  punished.  It  must  have  gra-. 
tified  him  to  observe  how  Antony  was  injuring  his  own 
cause  by  exasperating  the  Armenians,  and  teaching 
them  to  hate  Kome  even  more  than  they  hated  Pai'thia^ 
But  while  Antony's  troops  held  both  Syria  and  Arme- 
nia, and  the  alliance  between  Media  Atropatene  and 
Rome  continued,  he  could  not  venture  to  take  any 
aggressive  step  or  do  aught  but  protect  his  own  fron- 
tier. He  was  obliged  even  to  look  on  with  patience, 
when,  early  in  b.c.  33,  Antony  appeared  once  more  in 
these  pai'ts,^  and  advancing  to  the  Araxes,  had  a  con- 
ference with  the  Median  monarch,  whereat  their  alliance 
was  confii-med,  troops  exchanged,  part  of  Armenia 
made  over  to  the  Median  king,  and  Jotapa,  his  daughter, 
given  as  a  bride  to  the  young  Alexander,  whom  Antony 
designed  to  make  satrap  of  the  East.^  But  no  sooner 
had  Antony  withdrawn  into  Asia  Minoi-  in  preparation 
for  his  contest  with  Octavian,  than  Phraates  took  the 
offensive.  In  combination  with  Artaxias,  the  new 
Armenian  king,  he  attacked  Antony's  ally;  but  the 
latter  repulsed  him  by  the  help  of  his  Roman  troops. 
Soon  after\vards,  however,  Antony  recalled  these  troops 
without  restorino;  to  the  Median  kins;  his  own  contin- 
gent ;  upon  which  the  two  confedei'ates  renewed  their 
attack,  and  were  successful.  The  INIedian  prince  Avas 
defeated   and   taken    prisoner.^      Artaxias    recovered 


'  Compare     Tacit.    Ann.     ii.     3  :  -  Dio  Cass.  xlix.  44. 

'Armenia   inter   Parthorum   et  Ro  ^  See  Plut. -4//^?//.  §54  ;  Dio  Cass 

manas    opes    inQda    ob    scdus    An-  xlix.  41. 

tonii.''  *  Dio  Cass.  xlix.  44. 


208  THE    SIXTH    ^rO?fARCIIY.  [CH.    XIII, 

Armenia  and  massacred  all  the  Roman  garrisons  whicli 
he  found  in  it.^  Both  countries  became  once  more 
wholly  independent  of  Kome,  and  it  is  probable  that 
Media  returned  to  its  old  allegiance. 

But  the  successes  of  Phraates  abroad  produced  ill 
consequences  at  home.  Elated  by  his  victories,  and 
regarding  his  position  in  Parthia  as  thereby  secured,  he 
resumed  the  series  of  cruelties  towards  his  subjects 
which  the  Roman  war  had  interi'upted,  and  pushed 
them  so  far,  that  an  insurrection  broke  out  against  his 
authority  (n.c.  33),  and  he  was  compelled  to  quit  the 
country."^  The  revolt  was  headed  \)y  a  certain  Tiri- 
dates,  who,  upon  its  success,  was  made  king  by  the 
insurgents.  Phraates  fled  into  Scythia,  and  persuaded 
the  Scythians  to  embrace  his  cause.  These  nomads, 
nothing  loth,  took  up  arms,  and  without  any  great 
difficulty  restored  Phraates  to  the  throne  from  which 
his  people  had  expelled  him.  Tiridates  fled  at  their 
approach,  and,  having  contrived  to  carry  off  in  his 
flight  the  youngest  son  of  Phraates,  presented  him- 
self befoi'e  Octavian,  who  was  in  Syria  at  the  time  on 
his  return  from  Egypt  (b.c.  30),^  surrendered  the 
young  prince  into  his  hands,  and  requested  his  aid 
agninst  the  tyrant.^  Octavian  accepted  the  valuable 
hostage,  but,  with  his  usual  caution,  declined  to  pledge 


'  Dio  Cass.  li.  10. 

"^  Ju.stin,  xlii.  /),  §  4.  It  was 
probably  now  tliat  Phraates,  fearing 
that  his  seraglio  would  fall  into 
the  hands  of  'i'iridates,  murdered 
all    his    concubines.       (Isid.     Cliar. 

Ai.r.  s  1 ) 

^  Tiridalos  cannot  have  reit^ned 
in  Parthia  more  than  about  three 
years  (from  b.c.  33  to  30)  ;  but  he 
continued   to  claim    the  title  of  kini: 


assigned  to  him  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum Collection  (iirrunired  by  the 
lale  Mr.  J)e  Salis)  bear  the  dates 
Ens  nnd  Sns,  or  B.C.  27  and  20. 
The  earliest  coin  of  a  similar  type 
which  is  dated,  be.irs  the  letters 
902,  or  i!.c.  33. 

*  Justin  makes  these  events  take 
place  later,  when  Augustus  was  in 
Spain  (B.C.  27-24)  ;  but  it  seems 
impossible    that    the    circumstantial 


and  to  issue  coins  till,  at  any  rate,  [  account  of  Dio  (li    18)  can  be  a  more 
B.C.  26.     Coins  which  seetn  rightly    fiction. 


en.  XIII.]  EEBELLION    OF   TIRIDATES.  209 

himself  to  furnish  any  help  to  the  pretender  ;  he  might 
remain,  he  said,  in  Syria,  if  he  so  wished,  and  while  he 
continued  under  Roman.protection,  a  suitable  provision 
should  be  made  for  his  support,  but  he  must  not  expect 
armed  resistance  against  the  Parthian  monarch.  To 
that  monarch,  M'hen  some  years  afterwards  (b.c.  23)  he 
demanded  the  surrender  of  his  subject  and  the  resto- 
ration of  his  young  son,  Octavian  answered/  that  he 
could  not  give  Tiridates  up  to  him,  but  he  would  restore 
him  his  son  without  a  ransom.  He  should  expect, 
however,  that  in  return  for  this  kindness  the  Parthian 
king  would  on  his  part  deliver  to  the  Romans  the 
standards  taken  from  Crassus  and  Antony,  together 
with  all  who  survived  of  the  Roman  captives.  It  does 
not  appear  that  Phraates  was  mucli  moved  by  the 
Emperor's  generosity.  He  gladly  received  his  son ; 
but  he  took  no  steps  towards  the  restoration  of  those 
proofs  of  Parthian  victory  which  the  Romans  were  so 
anxious  fo  recover.  It  was  not  until  b.c.  20,  when 
Octavian  (now  become  Augustus)  visited  the  East,  and 
war  seemed  the  probable  alternative  if  he  continued 
obstinate,  that  the  Parthian  mouarcli  brou2:ht  himself 
to  relinf|uish  the  trophies  which  were  as  much  pi'ized 
by  the  victors  as  the  vanquished.^  In  extenuation  of 
his  act  w^e  must  remember  that  he  was  unpopular  with 
his  subjects,  and  that  Augustus  could  at  any  moment 
have  produced  a  pretender,  who  had  once  occupied, 
and  with  Roman  help  might  easily  have  mounted  for 
a  second  time,  the  throne  of  the  Arsacidae. 


'  Dio  Cass.  liii.  33.  i  Roman  writers.     (Suet.  Odav.  §  21. 

''  The  standards  were  surrendered  Liv.  Epit.  cxxxix. ;  Vel].  Pat.  ii. 
to  Tiberius  (Suet.  Tib.  §  9),  who  91 ;  Florus,  iv.  12,  §  6?.  ;  .Justin,  xlii. 
was  coniinissioned  by  Augustus  to  5,  §  11  ;  Eutrop.  vli.  5  ;  Oros.  vi. 
receive  them.  Their  recovery  is  21,  ad^fin.  ;  Hor.  Od.  iv.  1,5,  6-8; 
celebrated  in  jubilant  chorus  by  the  ■  Ovid.  Trist.  ii.  227,  228,  &c.) 


210  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    XIII. 

The  remaining  years  of  Pliraates — and  he  reigned  for 
nearly  twenty  years  after  restoring  the  standards — are 
almost  unbroken  by  any  event  of  importance.  The 
result  of  the  twenty  years'  struggle  between  Kome  and 
Parthia  had  been  to  impress  either  nation  with  a 
wholesome  dread  of  the  other.  Both  had  triumplied 
on  their  own  ground  ;  both  had  failed  ^vheu  they  ven- 
tured on  sending  expeditions  into  the  enemy's  territory. 
Each  now  stood  on  its  guard,  watching  the  movements 
of  its  adversary  across  the  Euphi'ates.  Both  had  become 
pacific.  It  is  a  well-known  f[ict  that  Augustus  left  it 
as  a  principle  of  policy  to  his  successors  that  the  Boman 
Empire  had  reached  its  proper  limits,  and  could  not 
witli  advantage  be  extended  further.^  This  piinciple, 
followed  with  the  utmost  strictness  by  Tiberius,  was 
accepted  as  a  rule  by  all  the  earlier  C;esars,  and  only 
regarded  as  admitting  of  rare  and  slight  exceptions. 
Trajan  was  the  first  who,  a  hundred  and  thirty  years 
after  the  accession  of  Ausrustus,  made  lio:ht  of  it  and  set 
it  at  defiance.  With  him  re-awoke  the  spirit  of  con- 
quest, the  aspiration  after  universal  dominion.  But  in 
the  meantime  there  was  peace  —  peace  indeed  not 
absolutely  unbroken,  for  l)order  wars  occurred,  and 
Rome  was  tempted  sometimes  to  interfere  by  arms  in 
the  internal  quarrels  of  her  neighbour^ — but  a  general 
state  of  j^eace  and  amity  prevailed — neither  state  made 
any  grand  attack  on  the  other's  dominions — no  change 
occurred  in  the  frontier — no  great  battle  tested  the 
relative  strengtli  of  the  two  peoples.  Such  rivalry  as 
remained  was  exhibited  less  in  arms  than  in  diplomacy, 
and  showed  itself  mainly  in  Endeavours  on  either  side 
to  obtain  a  predominant  influence  in  Armenia.     There 

'  See  TaciL  Ann.   i.    11,  adjin.  ;  i      "As   when    she   assisted    Moher- 
Dio  Cass.  Iv.  33,  &c.  J  dates  against  Gotarzes  (mfra,  p.  256). 


CH.   XIII.]  PHRAATES  SEISTDS  HIS  SONS  TO  ROME.  211 

alone  during  the  century  and  a  half  tliat  intervened 
between  Antony  and  Trajan  did  the  interests  of  Rome 
and  Parthia  come  into  collision,  and  in  connection  with 
this  kingdom  alone  did  any  struggle  between  the  two 
countries  continue. 

Phraates,  after  yielding  to  iVugustus  in  the  matter  of 
the  standards  and  prisoners,  aj^pears  for  many  years  to 
have  studiously  cultivated  his  good  graces.  In  the 
interval  between  b.c.  11  and  b.c.  7,^  distrustful  of  his 
subjects,  and  fearful  of  their  removing  him  in  order  to 
place  one  of  his  sons  upon  the  Parthian  throne,  he 
resolved  to  send  these  possible  rivals  out  of  the  country  ; 
and  on  this  occasion  he  paid  Augustus  the  compliment 
of  selectino;  Rome  for  his  children's  residence.^  The 
youths  were  four  in  number,  Yonones,  Seraspadanes, 
Rhodaspes,  and  Phraates ;  ^  two  of  them  were  married 
and  had  children;  they  resided  at  Rome  during  the 
remainder  of  their  father's  lifetime,  and  were  treated 
as  became  their  rank,  being  supported  at  the  pul)lic 
chars^e  and  in  a  mag-nificent  manner."*  The  Roman 
writers  speak  of  these  as  '  hostages '  given  by  Phraates 
to  the  Roman  Emperor  ;  ^  but  this  was  certainly  not 


'  This  date  is  fixed  by  the  men-  I       RHODASPES   .    PHRAATIS 


tion  in  Strabo  (xvi.  ],  f-  2f^)  of  Titius 
as  ttie  governor  of  Syria  at  the  time 
when  the  youths  were  sent  to  Rome. 
M.  Titius  ruled  Syria  as  legate  from 

B.C.   11  to  B.C.  7. 

""  Strab.  xvi.  1,  §  28 ;  Tao.  Ann. 
ii.  1;  Veil.  Pat.  ii.  94;  Justin,  xlii. 
5,  §  12. 

'  Strabo,    1.  s.   c.     The  names  of 


ARSACIS  .   REGVM  .  REGIS  .  F 
PARTHVS 

*  Strab.  1.  s.  c.  To>v  filv  ovv  ■n-aidui' 
oaoi  -Epietatv  kv'Pufirj  Si]fj.ocia  ^actli- 
/ccJ5  TTjueTiOvvTai, 

*  Among  the  Latin  writers,  the 
idea  commences  with  Yelleius,  the 
flatterer  of  Tiberius  (ii.  94,  ad  Jin.). 
From    him    it    passes    to   Suetonius 


two  of  these  youths  appear  in  an  '  ( Oc^ati.  §21),  Justin  (1.  s.  c),  Eutro 
inscription  found  at  Rome  and  pub-  j  ])ius  (vii.  5),  Orosius  ( vi.  21,  fljjin.^. 
lishcd  by  Grutcr  {Corp.  I/iscr.  p.  i  &c.  We  find  it,  however,  even  pre- 
cclxxviii.  2), part  of  which  runs  thus  :  j  viously  to  Yelleius.  in  Strabo.  The 
SERASPADANES  .  PHRAATIS  good  sense  of  Tacitus  prevents  him 
ARSACIS  .  REG  VM  .  REGIS  .  F  I  from  accepting  the  view. 
PARTHVS  I 


212  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  XIU. 

the  intention  of  the  Parthian  monarch ;  nor  could  tl;ie 
idea  well  be  entertained  by  the  Romans  at  the  time  of 
their  residence. 

These  amicable  relations  between  the  two  sovereis^ns 
would  probably  have  continued  undisturbed  till  the 
death  of  one  or  the  other,  had  not  a  revolution  occurred 
in  Armenia,  which  tempted  the  Parthian  king  beyond 
his  powers  of  resistance.  On  the  death  of  Artaxias, 
(b.c.  20),  Augustus,  who  was  then  in  the  Kast,  had  sent 
Tiberius  into  Armenia  to  arrange  matters,  and  Tiberius 
had  placed  upon  the  throne  a  brother  of  iVrtaxias, 
named  Tig^ranes.^  Tis^ranes  died  in  b.c.  6,  and  the 
Armenians,  without  waiting  to  know  the.  will  of  the 
Koman  Emperor,  conferred  the  royal  title  on  his  sons, 
for  whose  succession  he  had  before  his  death  paved  the 
way  by  associating  them  with  him  in  the  government.^ 
Enraged  at  this  assumption  of  independence,  Augustus 
sent  an  expedition  into  Armenia  (b.c.  5),  deposed  the 
sons  of  Tigranes,  and  established  on  the  throne  a  certain 
Artavasdes,  whose  birth  and  parentage  are  not  known 
to  us.^  But  the  Armenians  were  not  now  inclined  to 
submit  to  foreign  dictation  ;  they  rose  in  revolt  against 
Artavasdes  (ab.  e.g.  2),  defeated  his  Koman  supporters, 
and  expelled  him  from  the  kingdom."*  Another  Tigranes 
was  made  king;^  and,  as  it  was  pretty  certain  that  the 
Romans  would  interfere  with  this  new  display  of  the 
spirit  of  indej^endence,  the  Parthians  were  called  in  to 
resist  the  Roman  oppressors.  Armenia  was,  in  fact,  too 
weak  to  stand  alone,  and  was  obliged  to  lean  upon  one 


-  Tac.  Ann.  ii.  3;  Suet.  Tlh.  §  9; 
Dio  Cass.  liv.  9.  By  a  strange 
mistake,  Velleius  calls  the  king 
whom   Tiberius   set  up   Artavasdes 


(a.u.c.  749)  have  the  legend 

ARMKNIA  RECEPTA. 
'  Dio  Cass.  Iv.  9. 
^  This  Tigranes  is,  I  believe,  mcn- 


fii.  94).  I  tinned  only  in  a  fragment  of  Dio  (Iv. 

Tac.  An?).  1.  s.  c.  11),    the  exact  j)]ace  of  which  is  un- 

Ibid,     Coins  of  the  year  b.c.  5    certain. 


en.  XIII.]  FRESH    TROUBLES    IX    ARMENIA.  213 

or  other  of  the  two  great  empires  upon  her  borders. 
Her  people  liad  no  clear  political  foresight,  and  allowed 
themselves  to  veer  and  fluctuate  between  the  two  influ- 
ences accordins:  as  the  feelino-s  of  the  hour  dictated. 
Rome  had  now  angered  them  beyond  their  very  limited 
po^vers  of  endurance,  and  they  flew  to  Parthia  for  help, 
just  as  on  other  occasions  we  shall  find  them  flying  to 
Rome.  Phraates  could  not  bring  himself  to  reject  the 
Armenian  overtures.  Ever  since  the  time  of  the  second 
Mitliridates  it  had  been  a  settled  maxim  of  Parthian 
policy  to  make  Armenia  dependent ;  and,  even  at  the 
cost  of  a  rupture  ^vith  Rome,  it  seemed  to  Phraates  that 
he  must  respond  to  the  appeal  made  to  him.  The  rup- 
ture miirht  not  come.  AuQ:ustus  was  now  ao;ed,  and 
might  submit  to  the  affront  without  resenting  it.  He 
had  lately  lost  the  services  of  his  best  genei'al,  Tiberius, 
Avho,  indignant  at  slights  put  upon  him,  had  gone  into 
retirement  at  Rhodes.  He  had  no  one  that  he  could 
employ  but  his  grandsons,  youths  who  had  not  yet 
fleshed  their  maiden  swords,  Phraates  probably  hoped 
that  Anfjustus  would  draw  back  before  the  terrors  of  a 
Pai'thian  wai*  under  such  circumstances,  and  would 
allow  without  remonstrance  the  passing  of  Armenia  into 
the  position  of  a  subject-ally  of  Parthia. 

But,  if  these  were  his  thoughts,  he  had  miscalculated. 
Augustus,  from  the  time  that  he  heard  of  the  Arm«niian 
troubles,  and  of  the  support  given  to  them  by  Parthia, 
seems  never  to  have  wavered  in  his  determination  to 
vindicate  the  claims  of  Rome  to  paramount  influence 
m  Armenia,  and  to  have  only  hesitated  as  to  the  person 
whose  services  he  should  employ  in  the  business.  He 
would  have  been  glad  to  employ  Tiberius  ;  but  that 
morose  prince  had  deserted  him  and,  declining  public 
life,  had   betaken  himself   to  Rliodes,  where  he  was 


214 


THE    SIXTH    MONAECHY. 


[cn.  XIIL 


living  ill  a  self-chosen  retirement.  Cains,  tlie  eldest  of 
bis  grandsons,  was,  in  B.C.  2,  only  eighteen  years  of  age  ; 
and,  thon2:li  the  thous^hts  of  Au2:nstus  at  once  turned 
in  this  direction,  the  extreme  youth  of  the  prince  caused 
him  to  hesitate  somewhat ;  and  the  consequence  was 
that  Cains  did  not  start  for  the  East  till  late  in  e.g.  1. 
Meanwhile  a  change  had  occurred  in  Parthia.  Phraates, 
who  had  filled  the  throne  for  above  thirty-five  years, 
ceased  to  exist,^  and  was  succeeded  l)y  a  young  son, 
Phraataces,  who  reigned  in  conjunction  with  the  queen- 
mother,  Thermusa,  or  Musa.^ 

The  circumstances  which  brought  about  this  change 
were  the  following.  Phraates  IV.  had  married,  late  in 
life,  an  Italian  slave-girl,  sent  him  as  a  present  by  Au- 
gustus ;  and  she  had  borne  him  a  son  for  whom  she 
was  naturally  anxious  to  secure  the  succession.  Accord- 
ing to  some,  it  was  under  her  influence  that  the  monarch 
had  sent  his  four  elder  boys  to  Rome,  there  to  receive 
their  education.^  At  any  rate,  in  the  absence  of  these 
youths,  Phraataces,  the  child  of  the  slave-girl,  became 
the  chief  support  of  Phraates  in  the  administration  of 
affairs,  and  obtained  a  position  in  Parthia  which  led 
him  to  regard  himself  as  entitled  to  the  throne  so  soon 
as  it  should  become  vacant.  Doul)tful,  liovVever,  of  his 
father''s  goodwill,  or  fearful  of  the  rival  claims  of  his 
brothers,  if  he  waited  till  the  throne  was  vacated  in 


*  It  lias  been  usual  to  regard 
Phraates  IV.  as  having  reigned  till 
A.D.  4  (Ileercn,  Manval,  p.  oOB, 
E.T. ;  Plate  in  Smith's  BUKjniphicid 
Dictiovary,  vol.  i.  p.  357 ;  Lindsay, 
lUatory  and  Cointtge,  pp.  48,  49) ;  or 
even  till  a.d.  15  (Clinton's  FukH 
Romani,  vol.  ii.  p.  246).  But  the 
dates  on  the  coins  of  Phraataces 
prove  that  lie  was  king  in  h.c.  2,  and 
there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  he 


was  associated  by  his  father.  The 
difficulty  on  the  point  has  been  in 
part  owing  to  Dio's  calling  the  son 
'Phraates'  (Iv.  11)  as  well  as  the 
father. 

'■*  Joseph.  [Ant.  Jnd.  xviii.  2,  §  4) 
gives  the  name  as  Thermusa  ;  but 
it  appears  as  'Musa'  (M0T2A)  in- 
variably upon  the  coins. 

*  Joseph.  Ant  Jud.  1.  s.  c. 


CH.  XIII.]    DEATH  OF  PHRAATES  TV. HIS  CHARACTER.    2l5 

the  natural  course  of  events,  Pliraataces  resolved  to 
anticipate  the  hand  of  time,  and,  in  conjunction  Avith 
bis  mother,  administered  poison  to  the  old  monarch,* 
from  the  effects  of  which  he  died.  A  just  Nemesis  for 
once  showed  itself  in  that  portion  of  human  affairs 
which  passes  before  our  eyes.  Phraates  IV.,  the  parri- 
cide and  fratricide,  was,  after  a  reign  of  thirty -five  years, 
himself  assassinated  (b.c.  2)  by  a  wife  whom  he  loved 
only  too  fondly  and  a  son  whom  he  esteemed,  and 
trusted. 

Phraates  cannot  but  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  ablest 
of  the  Parthian  raonarchs.  His  conduct  of  the  cam- 
paign against  Antony — one  of  the  best  soldiers  that 
Rome  ever  produced — was  admirable,  and  showed  him 
a  master  of  guerilla  warfare.  His  success  in  maintaining 
himself  upon  the  throne  for  five  and  thirty  years,  in  spite 
of  rivals,  and  notwithstanding  the  character  which  he 
obtained  for  cruelty,  implies,  in  such  a  state  as  Parthia, 
considerable  powers  of  management.  His  dealings  with 
Augustus  indicate  much  suppleness  and  dexterity.  If  he 
did  not  in  the  course  of  his  long  reign  advance  the 
Parthian  frontier,  at  any  rate  he  was  not  obliged  to  re- 
tract it.  Apparently,  he  ceded  nothing  to  the  Scyths 
as  the  price  of  their  assistance.  He  maintained  the 
Parthian  supremacy  over  Northern  Media.  He  lost  no 
inch  of  territory  to  the  Romans.  It  was  undoubtedly 
a  prudent  stej:)  on  his  part  to  soothe  the  irritated  vanity 
of  Rome  by  a  surrender  of  useless  trophies,  and  scarcely 
more  useful  prisoners ;  and,  we  may  dou))t  if  this  con- 
cession was  not  as  effective  as  the  dread  of  the  Parthian 


'  Pacorus,     the     eldest     son     of  I  the   second    son,   is    hkcly  to   have 
Orodes,    was   of    age   to   receive   a  j  been  but  a  few  years  younger.     He 
military   command    in  b.c.  51,  and    would    therefore    be    sixty-five    or 
must   therefore  have  been  born  as    sixty-six  in  B.C.  2. 
early  as  b.c.   69  or  70.      Phraates,  , 


216 


THE    SIXTH    MOIS-AECHY. 


[CH.    XIII. 


arms  in  producing  that  peace  between  the  two  countries 
wliicli  continued  unbroken  for  above  ninety  years  from 
the  campaign  of  Antony/  and  without  serious  interrup- 
tion for  yet  another  half  century.^  If  Phraates  felt,  as 
he  might  well  feel  after  the  campaigns  of  Pacorus,  that 
on  the  whole  Kome  was  a  more  powerful  state  than 
Parthia,  and  that  consequently  Parthia  had  nothing  to 
gain  but  much  to  lose  in  the  contest  with  her  western 
neighbour,  he  did  well  to  allow  no  sentiment  of  foolish 
prido  to  stand  in  the  way  of  a  concession  that  made  a 
prolonged  peace  between  the  two  countries  possible. 
It  is  sometimes  more  honourable  to  yield  to  a  demand 
than  to  meet  it  with  defiance ;  and  the  prince  who 
removed  a  cause  of  war  arising  out  of  mere  national 
vanity,  while  at  the  same  time  he  maintained  in  all 
essential  points  the  interests  and  dignity  of  his  kingdom, 
deserved  well  of  his  subjects,  and  merits  the  approval 
of  the  historian,  Asa  man,  Phraates  has  left  behind 
him  a  bad  name :  he  was  cruel,  selfish,  and  ungrateful, 
a  fratricide,  and  a  parricide  ;  but  as  a  king  he  is  worthy 
of  respect,  and,  in  certain  points,  of  admiration. 


From  the  year  of  the  campaign 
of  Antony  (b.c.  36)  to  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war  between 
Vologeses    I.  and    Nero    (a.d.  58) 


was  a  period  of  ninety-four  years. 
^  Till  the  attack  of    Trajan,  a.d. 
114,  fifty-two   years   after  the  end 
of  the  war  with  Nero. 


CH.   XIV.]  ACCESSIOif   OF   PHKAATACES.  217 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Short  Reigns  of  Phraataces,  Orodes  11, ,  and  Vonones  I.  Accession  of 
Artabanus  III.  His  relations  with  Germanicus  and  Tiberius.  His 
War  with  Pharasmanes  of  Ileria.  His  First  Exjjulsion  from  his  King- 
dom, and  return  to  it.  His  Peace  icith  Rome.  Internal  Troubles  of 
the  Parthian  Kingdom.  Second  Eximhion  and  return  of  Artabanus. 
His  Death. 

•  Mota  Orieutis  regua,  provinciiEque  Romanae,  initio  apud  Parthos  onto.' 

Tacit.  Ann.  ii.  1. 

The  accession  of  Phraataces  made  no  difference  in  tlie 
attitude  of  Parthia  towards  Armenia.  The  young  prince 
was  as  anxious  as  bis  father  had  been  to  maintain  the 
Parthian  chums  to  that  country,  and  at  first  perhaps  as 
inclined  to  believe  that  Augustus  would  not  dispute 
them.  Immediately  uj3on  his  accession,  he  sent  am- 
T)assadors  to  Pome  announcing  the  fact,  apologising  for 
the  circumstances  under  which  it  had  taken  place,  and 
proposing  a  renewal  of  the  peace  which  had  subsisted 
between  Augustus  and  his  father.^  Apparently,  he 
said  nothing  about  Armenia,  but  preferred  a  demand 
for  the  surrender  of  his  four  brothers,  whom  no  doubt 
he  designed  to  destroy.     The  answer  of  Augustus  was 


'  Dio  Cass.  Iv.  11.  It  has  been  i  Phraates,  with  whom  he  had  kept 
usual  to  regard  this  passage  of  Dio  '  up  diplomatic  intercourse  as  un- 
(recovered  from  the  Excerpt,  de  questioned  King  of  Parthia  for 
Legationihus)  as  belonging  to  the  !  nearly  thirty  years.  The  miscon- 
reign  of  Phraates  lY.,  and  not  of  [  ception  has  arisen  from  the  name. 
Phraataces  ;  but  I  have  no  doubt  But  it  should  be  remembered  that 
tliat  it  refers  to  the  latter.  The  the  form  Phraataces  is  a  mere  di- 
phra-^e  roOs  a(h'/.<^ovi  i-n-'i  etpqvri  arr-  minntive  of  Phraates,  and  that  it 
a(TC)v  is  by  itself  decisive.  There  I  is  found  only  in  Josephus,  whose 
were  no  brothers  of  Phraates  at  Parthian  names  are  not  always  to 
Rome  whom  he  coald  demand,  be  depended  upon.  (See  note  2  on 
Nei  her  could  Augustus  have  called  i  p.  214.) 
m     question     the     royal     title     of  I 


218  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    XIV. 

severe  in  the  extreme.  Addressing  Pbraataces  by  his 
bare  name,  without  adding  the  title  of  king,  he  re- 
quired him  to  lay  aside  the  royal  appellation,  which  he 
had  arrogantly  and  without  any  warrant  assumed,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  withdraw  his  forces  from  Armenia.^ 
On  the  surrender  of  the  Parthian  princes  he  kept 
silence,  ignoiiug  a  demand  which  he  had  no  intention 
of  according.  It  was  clearly  his  design  to  set  up  one 
of  the  elder  brothers  as  a  lival  claimant  to  Phraataces, 
or  at  any  rate  to  alarm  him  with  the  notion  that,  unless 
he  made  concessions,  this  policy  would  be  adopted. 
But  Phraataces  was  not  to  be  frightened  by  a  mere 
message.  He  responded  to  Augustus  after  his  own 
fashion,  despatching  to  him  a  letter  wherein  he  took 
to  himself  the  favourite  Parthian  title  of  '  kins;  of 
kings,'  and  addressed  the  Poman  Emperor  simply  as 
'Caesar.'^  The  attitude  of  defiance  would  no  doubt 
have  been  maintained,  had  Augustus  confined  himself 
to  menaces  ;  when,  however,  it  appeared  that  active  mea- 
sures would  be  taken,  when  Augustus,  in  c.c.  1,  sent  his 
grandson,  Caius,  to  the  East,  with  ordei's  to  re-establish 
the  Roman  influence  in  Armenia  even  at  the  cost  of  a 
Parthian  war,  and  that  prince  showed  himself  in  Syria 
with  all  the  magnificent  surroundings  of  the  Imperial 
dignity,  the  Parthian  monarch  became  alarmed.  He 
had  an  interview  with  Caius  in  tlie  spring  of  a.d.  1, 
upon  an  island  in  the  Eu])hrates;^  where  the  terms  of 
an  arrangement  between  the  two  Empires  were  dis- 

'  Dio  Cass.  iv.  11.  T6  re  bvoua  ro  I  view  is  placed  by  some  in  a.d.  2 
Paai'AiKov  KaTa9f:oOai,,  K(ii  TijQ  'Apfievia';  |  (Clinton,  Jf.  II.  vol.  iii.  p.  2G2  ; 
ano/JT/'/vai  Tzponira^f.  I  Merivnle,   Roman    Empire,    vol.    iv. 

"^  Ibid.  'O  Udf/JoS  ovx  orrov  ov  ;  pp.  285,  28())  ;  but  it  seems  un- 
KnTEnTTj^Ev,  (lA.'Xa  koI  nvrt-y/xitpEV  ol  rd  j  likely  thnt  C  ius  would  have  da- 
re d'A'/in  v-!rEp(ppovuS,  Kai  avTov  fih>  i3nat.\\a,yct\  so  long  the  inain  purpose  of 
Xeu  [iaai'Atuv  tKelvuv  (5t  Kft/CT«p«  ^oj^of  !  his  Kastern  e.xpcdilion.  In  the 
bvoiidnai.  I  Tauchnitz   edition  of   Velleiu,s,   the 

'  Veil.   Pat.  ii.   101.      This  inter-    date  a.d.  1  is  given  for  it. 


en.    Xn^]  PEACE    -AIADE    WITH    KOME,    A.D.    1.  219 

cussed  and  settled.  The  armies  of  tlie  two  cbiefs  were 
drawn  up  on  the  opposite  l)anks  of  the  river,  facing 
one  anotlier  ;  and  the  chiefs  themselves,  accompanied 
by  an  equal  number  of  attendants,  proceeded  to  de- 
liberate in  the  sight  of  both  hosts.  Satisfactory  pledges 
having  been  given  by  the  Parthian  monarch,  the 
prince  and  king  in  turn  entertained  each  other  on  the 
bordei's  of  their  respective  dominions;^  and  Caius 
returned  into  Syria,  having  obtained  an  engagement 
from  the  Parthians  to  abstain  from  any  further  inter- 
ference with  Armenian  affairs.^  The  engagement  ap- 
pears to  have  l>een  honourably  kept ;  for  when,  shortly 
afterwards,  f]-esh  complications  occurred,  and  Caius  in 
endeavouring  to  settle  them  received  his  death-wound 
before  the  walls  of  an  Armenian  town,^  we  do  not 
hear  of  Parthia  as  in  any  way  involved  in  the  un- 
fortunate occurrence.  The  Romans  and  their  partisans 
in  the  country  were  left  to  settle  the  Armenian  succes- 
sion as  they  pleased  ;  and  Parthia  kej^t  herself  wholly 
aloof  from  the  matters  transacted  upon  her  l:)orders. 

One  cause — perhaps  the  main  cause — of  this  ab- 
stinence, and  of  the  engagement  to  abstain  entered 
into  by  Phraataces,  was  doubtless  the  unsettled  state 
of  things  in  Parthia  itself.'^     The  circumstances  under 


'  Yelk'ius,  who  gives  these  de- 
tails, was  himself  present  at  the 
meeting,  and  evidently  regards  it 
as  an  event  of  first-rate  importance. 
'Quod  spectaculiim,'  he  says. 
'  stantis  ex  divcrso,  hinc  Romani, 
illinc  Parthorum  exercitus,  cum 
duo  inter  se  eminentissima  imperi- 
orum  et  hominum  coirent  capita. 
perqiutm  cUirum  et  memoraliUe,  sub 
initia  stipendiorum  meorum,  tri- 
buno  milituni  mihi  viscre  coiuigit.' 
That  Phra:'.taccs,  and  not  Phraates 


thus  :  '  Cum  rege  Parthorum, 
eminentissiaw  juven^,  in  insula 
quam  amnis  Euphrates  ambiebat, 
jcquato  utriu^que  partis  numero, 
coiit.'  Recent  editors  have  altered 
'  eminenlissimo  juvene'  into  '  emi- 
nentissimus  jiivenis.' 

-  Dio  Cass.  Iv.  11.  'O  6l  dfj 
'I'pndrj^i  KnTri7J.(iyrj  kiu  rij  Tiji  'Ap/xe- 
I'ini  a-oartjvai. 

^  Yell.  Pat.  ii.  102  ;  Suet.  Octav. 
§  Go  ;  Tacit.  Ann.  i.  3 ;  Zonaras, 
p.  589,  D. 


was  the  Parthian  monarch  ))re>ent  *  Dio  (1.  s.  c.')  notes  this,  assign- 
appears  ftom  the  .MS.  reading  of '  ing  two  reasons  for  the  withdrawal 
the  preceding  sentence,  which  runs  ,  of  the  Parthian  claims   to  Armenia, 


220 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.  XIV. 


which  that  prince  had  made  himself  king,  though  not 
unparalleled  in  the  Parthian  annals,  were  such  as 
nattirally  tended  towards  civil  strife,  and  as  were  apt  to 
produce  in  Parthia  internal  difficulties,  if  not  disorders 
or  commotions.  Phraataces  soon  found  that  he  would 
have  a  hard  task  to  establish  his  rule.  The  nobles 
objected  to  him,  not  only  for  the  murder  of  his  father, 
but  his  descent  from  an  Italian  concubine,  and  the 
incestuous  commerce  wdiicli  he  was  supposed  to  main- 
tain with  her.^  They  had  perhaps  grounds  for  this  last 
charge.  At  any  rate  Phraataces  provoked  suspicion 
by  the  singular  favours  and  honours  which  he  granted 
to  a  w^oman  whose  origin  was  mean  and  extraction 
foreign.  Not  content  with  private  marks  of  esteem  and 
love,  he  departed  from  the  practice  of  all  former  Parthian 
sovereigns  ^  in  placing  her  effigy  upon  his  coins  ;  and 
he  accompanied  this  act  with  fulsome  and  absurd  titles. 
Musa  w^as  styled,  not  merely  'Queen,'  but  'Heavenly 
Goddess,'^  as  if  /;he  realities  of  slave  origin  and  con- 
cubinage   could    be    covered    b}^    the    fiction    of    an 


the  presence  of  dvu'^  'n  Syria,  and 
the  Parthian  kinQ;'s  expectation  of 
disturbances  among  his  subjects  {ru 
o'lKEia  TafjarTO/isra  fxiaei,  avruv  vnero- 
naae). 

'  Joseph.     Ant.  Jud.  xviii.  2,  §  4. 

'  It  "s  perhaps  doubtful  whether 
Phraatss  IV.  had  not  done  the 
same  iur'ne;  his  later  years,  as, 
Mion>^«t  (Medailles,  supplrment. 
torn     iw    pp.     441-443)   and    Mr. 


liindsay  {Hintory  and  Cowacje, 
p.  149)  imag;ine.  On  the  whole, 
however,  I  incline  to  the  belief 
that  the  Musa  coins  belong  wholly 
to  Phraataces. 

^  The  coins  of  Phraataces  have 
on  the  one  side  his  head,  which  is 
being  crowned  by  two  Victories ; 
on  the  other  the  head  of  Musa, 
witii  the  legend  MOTSHS  BASI- 
AI22H2   0EA2   OYPANlAi;. 


COIN   OF  I'llRAATACES  AND  MOUSA. 


CII.    XIV.]  DEATH    OF   PHUAATACE3.  221 

apotheosis.  It  is  not  surprising  that  the  proud  Parthian 
nobles  were  offended  by  these  proceedings,  and  deter- 
mined to  rid  themselves  of  a  monarch  whom  they  at 
once  hated  and  despised.  Within  a  few  years  of  his 
obtainino-  the  throne  an  insurrection  broke  oat  against 
his  authority ;  and  after  a  V^rief  struggle  he  was  de- 
prived of  liis  crown  and  put  to  death. ^  The  nobles 
then  elected  an  Arsacid,  named  Orodes,  whose  resi- 
dence at  the  time  and  i-elationship  to  the  former 
monarchs  are  uncertain.  It  seems  probable^  that,  like 
most  princes  of  the  blood  royal,  he  had  taken  refuge 
in  a  foreign  country  from  the  suspicions  and  dangers 
that  beset  all  possible  pretenders  to  the  royal  dignity 
in  Parthia,  and  was  living  in  retirement,  unexpectant 
of  any  such  offer,  when  a  deputation  of  Parthian 
nobles  arrived  and  brou2:lit  him  the  intellio^ence  of  his 
election.  It  might  have  been  expected  that,  obtain- 
ing the  crown  under  these  circumstances,  he  would 
have  ruled  well  ;  but,  according  to  Josephus  (who  is 
here,  unfortunately,  our  sole  authority),  he  very  soon 
displayed  so  much  violence  and  cruelty  of  disposition, 
that  his  rule  was  felt  to  be  intolerable;  and  the  Par- 
thians,  again  breaking  into  insurrection,  rid  themselves 
of  him,  killing  him  either  at  a  banquet  or  on  a  hunting 
excursion.^  This  done,  they  sent  to  Rome,  and  re- 
quested Augustus  to  allow  Vonones,  the  eldest  son  of 
Phraates  IV.,  to  retui'u  to  Parthia  in  order  that  he 
might  receive   his  fathers  kingdom.'*      The  Emperor 

They  bear  the  three  dates  IT,  AIT,  |  ^  Joseph.  1.  s.  c.  The  .violent 
and  EIT,  or  b.c.  2,  b.c.  I,  and  a.d.  I  deaths  of  at  least  two  kings  between 
4.  (See  for  the  last-mentioned  |  Phraates  IV.  and  Artabanus  III.  are 
dates,  Numisrnntic  Chronicle,  New  {  attested  by  Tacitns(,-1»/^  ii.  2),  who 
Series,  No.  xliii.  p.  218.)  says:    'Post    flnem  Phraatis  et  sc- 

'  Joseph.  Ant.  Jii/l.  xviii.  2,  §  4.    quentium  regum   ob   internas  cmles,^ 

^  This    seems  to  follow  from  the   &c. 
ex])ression    used    by    Josephus,    ol        ^  Tacit.  ■Ann.     1.  s.  c.  ;     Joseph. 
yEi'vaioraroi-  Hz/iCwv  .    .  .    'Opudrjv  eku-    1-  S.  0.  ;    Suet.    Tib.'^  IG, 
/■ovv   ■^  p  E  a  id  £  V  c  a  V  T  £  i.  I 


222  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  XIV. 

complied  readily  enough,  since  he  regarded  his  own 
dignity  as  advanced  by  the  transaction  ;  and  tlie  Par- 
tliians  at  first  welcomed  the  object  of  their  choice  with 
rejoicings.  But  after  a  little  time  their  sentiments 
altered.  The  young  j^riuce,  bred  up  in  Rome,  and 
accustomed  to  the  refinements  of  Western  civilisation, 
neglected  the  occupations  which  seemed  to  his  subjects 
alone  worthy  of  a  monarch's  regard,  absented  himself 
from  the  hunting-field,  took  small  pleasure  in  riding, 
when  he  passed  through  the  sti'eets  indulged  in  the 
foreign  luxury  of  a  litter,  shrank  with  disgust  from 
the  rude  and  coarse  feastings  which  formed  a  portion 
of  the  national  manners.  He  had,  moreover,  brought 
with  him  from  the  place  of  his  exile  a  number  of 
Greek  companions,  whom  the  Parthians  despised  and 
ridiculed ;  and  the  favours  bestowed  on  these  foi-eign 
interlopers  were  seen  with  jealousy  and  I'age.  It  was 
in  vain  that  he  endeavoured  to  conciliate  his  offended 
subjects  by  the  openness  of  his  manners  and  the  facility 
with  which  he  allowed  access  to  his  person.  In  their 
prejudiced  eyes  virtues  and  graces  unknown  to  the 
nation  hitherto  were  not  merits  but  defects,^  and  rather 
increased  than  diminished  their  aversion.  Having  con- 
ceived a  dislike  for  the  monarch  personally,  they  began 
to  look  back  with  dissatisfaction  on  their  own  act  in 
sending  for  liini.  '  Parthia,'  they  said,  '  had  indeed  de- 
generated from  her  former  self  to  have  requested  a  king 
to  be  sent  her  ^vho  belonged  to  another  world  and  had 
had  a  hostile  civilisation  ingrained  into  him.  All  the 
glory  gained  by  destroyingCrassusand  rej)ulsing  Antony 
was  utterly  lost  and  gone,  if  the  country  was  to  be 
ruled  l)y  Cljesar's  bond-slave,  and  the  throne  of  the 
Arsacidii!  to  be  treated  like  a  Roman  province.       It 

'  '  Ignotuj  Parthis  virtntcs  nova  vitia.'     (Tacit.  1.  s.  c.) 


CH.  XIV. J  SHORT    RElGJf    OF    YONONES.  223 

would  have  been  bad  enough  to  liave  liad  a  prince 
imposed  on  them  by  the  will  of  a  superior,  if  they 
had  been  conquered ;  it  was  worse,  in  all  respects 
worse,  to  suffer  such  an  insult,  when  they  had  not 
even  had  war  made  on  them.'  Under  the  influence  of 
such  feelings  as  these,  the  Pai-thians,  after  tolerating 
Vonones  for  a  few  years^  rose  against  him  (aVj.  a.d.  16), 
and  summoned  Artabanus,  an  Arsacid  who  had  gi'own 
to  manhood  among  the  Dahte  of  the  Caspian  region, 
l)ut  was  at  this  time  king  of  Media  Atropatene,  to 
rule  over  them,^ 

It  was  seldom  that  a  crown  was  declined  in  the 
ancient  world ;  and  Artabanus,  on  receiving  the  over- 
ture, at  once  expressed  his  willingness  to  accept  the 
proffered  dignity.  He  invaded  Parthia  at  the  head  of 
an  army  consisting  of  his  own  subjects,  and  engaged 
Vonones,  to  whom  in  his  difficulties  the  bulk  of  the 
Parthian  people  had  rallied.  The  engagement  resulted 
in  the  defeat  of  the  Median  monarch,"^  who  returned 
to  his  own  country,  and,  having  collected  a  larger 
army,  made  a  second  invasion.  This  time  he  was 
successful.  Vonones  fled  on  horseback  to  Seleucia 
with  a  small  body  of  followers ;  while  his  defeated 
army,  following  in  his  track,  was  pressed  upon  by  the 
victorious  Mede,  and  suffered  great  losses.     Artabanus 

'  Tacit.  Ann.  ii.  3.  '  A  pud  Dahas  '  striking  coins  which  bore  upon  the 
adultus.'  Joseph.  Ant.  Jud.  1.  s.  c.  one  side  his  head,  with  the  legend 
'ApTuSavov  MrideiaS  [3aai?.evovTa,  yivo;  BA2IAEY2  ONflXHS  ;  and  on  the 
'\paaKL6C)v.  other   a  Victory,    with    the   legend 

*  Vonones  commemorated  his  BA2IAEY2  ONONHS  NEIKH2AS 
victory   in   the   Roman   fashion  by   APTABANON. 


COIN   OF   VONONES   I. 


224  THE    SIXTH    MOIS^AKCHY.  [CH.  XIV. 

having  eutered  Ctesiplion  in  triumph,  was  immediately 
proclaimed  king/  Vonones,  escaping  from  Seleucia, 
took  I'efuge  among  the  Armenians ;  and,  as  it  happened 
that  Just  at  this  time  the  Armenian  throne  was  vacant, 
not  only  was  an  asylum  granted  him,  but  lie  was 
made  king  of  the  country.^  It  was  impossible  that 
Ai'tabanus  should  tamely  submit  to  an  arrangement 
which  would  have  placed  his  deadly  enemy  in  a 
position  to  cause  him  constant  annoyance.  He,  there- 
fore, at  once  remonstrated,  both  in  Armenia  and  at 
Rome.  As  Rome  now  claimed  the  investiture  of  the 
Armenian  monarchs,  he  sent  an  embassy  to  Til^erius, 
and  threatened  war  if  Vonones  were  acknowledged  ; 
while  at  the  same  time  he  applied  to  Armenia  and 
required  the  surrender  of  the  refugee.  An  important 
section  of  the  Armenian  nation  was  inclined  to  grant 
his  demand  f  Tiberius,  who  would  willingly  have 
supported  Vonones,  drew  back  before  the  Parthian 
threats  j"**  Vonones  found  himself  in  imminent  danger, 
and,  under  the  circumstances,  determined  on  quitting 
Ai'menia  and  })etaking  himself  to  the  protection  of  the 
Roman  governor  of  Syria.  This  was  Creticus  Silanus, 
who  received  him  gladly,  gave  him  a  guard,  and 
allowed  him  the  state  and  title  of  king.'^  Meanwhile 
Ai'ta])anus  laid  claim  to  Armenia,  and  suggested  as  a 
candidate  for  the  throne  one  of  his  own  sons,  Orodes.^ 


'  Joscpli.  1.  s.  c. 
"^  Tacit.  Ann.  ii.  4. 

*  01  TTEpl  NiclxiTTju  (hi>aro1  tuv  'Ap/ze- 
vluv  ' A/jTuiSafif)  TTiiuaTiOevTai.    (.Joseph. 

1.  s.  c.) 

*  Josephus  expresses  this  broiidly. 
'O  TifiypioS  avTO)  UTrelire,  7r/;'i5  .  .  . 
Tov  Tldj/joi>  r  a  5  nir  e  i2,dc  .     Tacitus 


ad  fin.  It  is  supposed  by  some  that 
Josephus  in  this  passage  refers  to 
the  cstablislitiient  of  Arsaces,  an- 
other son  of  Artabanus,  on  the 
throne  of  Armenia,  nearly  twenty 
years  afterwards.  But  the  close 
connection  of  the  clause  with  one 
in  wbich  he  speaks  of  Vonones  as 


impiles  it  when  he  says :  'Si  nostra  f^uarded  in  Syria,  limits  the  date  to 
vi  defenderctur,  bellum  adveisus  a.d.  10-18.  That  Artabanus  had 
T*arlhos  sumcndinn  erat.'  ,  a  son,  Oro  les,  distinct  from  Arsaces, 

'"  Tacit.  Ann.  ii.  4,  (id fin.  king  of  .Armenia,  appe.ivs  from  Tacit. 

"  Joseph.   Ant.  Jud.  xviii.  2,  §4,  >  Ann.  vi.  33. 


CII.  XIV.]  REIGN    OF    ARTABANUS    III.  225 

Uucler  these  circumstances,  the  Roman  Emperor, 
Tiberius,  who  had  recently  succeeded  Augustus,  re- 
solved to  dispatch  to  the  East  a  personage  of  import- 
ance, who  should  command  the  respect  and  attention 
of  the  Oriental  powers  by  his  dignity,  and  impose 
u^^on  them  by  the  pomp  and  splendour  with  which  he 
was  suri'ounded.  He  selected  for  this  office  Germanicus, 
his  nephew,  the  eldest  son  of  his  deceased  brother, 
Drusus,  a  prince'  of  much  promise,  amiable  in  his  dis- 
position, courteous  and  affable  in  his  manners,  a  good 
soldier,  and  a  man  generally  popular.  The  more  to 
strike  the  minds  of  the  Orientals,  he  gave  Germanicus 
no  usual  title  or  province,  but  invested  him  with  an 
extraordinary  command  over  all  the  Roman  dominions 
to  the  east  of  the  Hellespont,^  thus  rendering  him  a 
sort  of  monarch  of  Roman  Asia.  Full  powers  were 
granted  him  for  making  peace  or  war,  for  levying 
troops,  annexing  provinces,  appointing  subject  kings, 
and  performing  other  sovereign  acts,  without  referring 
back  to  Rome  for  instructions.  A  train  of  unusual 
magnificence  accompanied  him  to  his  charge,  calculated 
to  impress  the  Orientals  with  the  conviction  that  this 
was  no  common  negotiator.  Germanicus  arrived  in  Asia 
early  in  a.d.  18,  and  applied  himself  at  once  to  his 
task.  Entering  Armenia  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  he 
proceeded  to  the  capital,  Artaxata,^  and  having  as- 
certained the  wishes  of  the  Armenians  themselves, 
determined  on  his  course  of  conduct.  To  have 
insisted  on  the  restoration  of  Vonones  would  have 
been  grievously  to  offend  the  Armenians  who  had 
expelled  him,  and  at  the  same  time  to  provoke  the 
Parthians,  who  could  not  have  tolerated  a  pretender 


'   '  Porii)iss;c    Oermanico    provin- 1  ^nn.  ii.  43.  ^  Ibid.  ii.  56. 

ciae,    quae    nnri    dividuntur.'      Tac. 


226 


THE    SIXTH    MOIS^AKCHY. 


[CH.  XIV. 


in  a  position  of  power  upon  their  borders;  to  have 
allowed  the  pretensions  of  the  Parthian  monarch,  and 
accepted  the  candidature  of  his  son,  Orodes,  would 
have  lowered  Kome  in  the  opinion  of  all  the  surround- 
ing nations,  and  been  equivalent  to  an  abdication  of  all 
influence  in  the  aifairs  of  AVestern  Asia.  Germanicus 
avoided  either  extreme,  and  found  happily  a  middle 
course.  It  happened  that  there  was  a  foreign  prince 
settled  in  Armenia,  who  having  grown  up  there  had 
assimilated  himself  in  all  respects  to  the  Armenian 
ideas  and  habits,  and  had  thereby  won  golden  opinions 
from  both  the  nobles  and  the  people.  This  was  Zeno, 
the  son  of  Polemo,  once  king  of  the  curtailed  Poiitus, 
and  afterwards  of  the  Lesser  Armenia,^  an  outlying 
Roman  dependency.  The  Armenians  themselves  sug- 
gested that  Zeno  should  be  their  monarch ;  and  Ger- 
manicus saw  a  way  out  of  his  difficulties  in  the 
suggestion.  At  the  seat  of  government,  Artaxata,  in 
the  presence  of  a  vast  multitude  of  tlie  people,  with 
the  consent  and  approval  of  the  principal  nobles,  he 
placed  with  his  own  hand  the  diadem  on  the  brow  of 
the  favoured  prince,  and  saluted  him  as  king  under  the 
new  name  of  ^Artaxias.'^  He  then  returned  into 
Syria,  where  he  was  shortly  afterwards  visited  by  am- 
bassadors from  the  Parthian  monarch.^  Artabanus 
reminded  him  of  the  peace  concluded  between  Rome 


See  above,  p.  205,  note  *. 
"^  Tacitus  says  (I.  s.  c.)  that  the 
name  was  taken  from  that  of  the 
city  Artaxata,  which  is  absurd ; 
for  Artaxata  is  Arfaxla-sata^  '  Ar- 
taxias's  city  '  (compare  Sainosata, 
and  see  Strab.  xi.  14,  §  6),  and 
itself  took  its  name  from  the  first 
Artaxias.  Dean  Merivale  observes 
that  the  word  '  sif^nified  greatness 
or    sovereignty'    (vol.    v.    p.     192); 


which  is  true,  but  not  of  much  im- 
portance, since  the  derivation  would 
scarcely  occur  to  either  Zeno  or  his 
subjects.  What  was  needed  was 
that  the  new  king  should  exchange 
his  Greek  name  for  a  native  one. 
lie  chose  Artaxias  as  that  of  t«-o 
previous  nionarchs  who  had  dis- 
tinguished themselves. 
=  Tacit.  Ann.  ii.  58. 


cii.  :xiv.]         AKTABA^^us  a:n^d  ger^ianicus.  227 

and  Partliia  in  tlie  reign  of  Augustus,  and  assumed 
that  the  circumstances  of  his  own  appointment  to  the 
throne  had  in  no  way  interfered  with  it.  He  would 
be  frlad,  he  said,  to  renew  with  Germanicus  the  inter- 
change  of  friendly  assurances  which  had  passed  be- 
tween his  predecessor,  Phraataces,  and  Caius  ;  and  to 
accommodate  tlie  Roman  general,  he  would  willingly 
come  to  meet  him  as  far  as  the  Euphrates ;  meanwhile, 
until  the  meeting  could  take  place,  he  must  request 
that  Vonones  should  be  removed  to  a  greater  distance 
from  the  Parthian  frontier,  and  that  he  should  not  be 
allowed  to  continue  the  correspondence  in  which  he 
was  engaged  with  many  of  the  Parthian  nobles  for  the 
purpose  of  raising  fresh  troubles.  Germanicus  re2:)lied 
politely,  but  indefinitely,  to  the  proposal  of  an  interview, 
which  he  may  have  thought  unnecessary,  and  open  to 
misconstruction.  To  the  request  for  the  removal  of 
Vonones  he  consented.^  Vonones  was  transferred  from 
Syria  to  the  neighbouring  province  of  Cilicia ;  and  the 
city  of  Pompeiopolis,  built  by  the  great  Pompey  on 
the  .site  of  the  ancient  Soli,  was  assigned  to  him  as  his 
residence.  With  this  arrangement  the  Parthian  monarch 
appears  to  have  been  contented.  Vonones  on  the 
other  hand  was  so  dissatisfied  with  the  change  that  in 
the  course  of  the  next  year  (a.d.  19)  he  endeavoured 
to  make  his  escape  ;  his  flight  was,  however,  discovered, 
and  pursuit  l)eing  made,  he  was  overtaken  and  slain  on 
the  banks  of  the  Pyramus.~  Thus  perished  ingloriously 
one  of  the  least  blameable  and  most  unfortunate  of  the 
Parthian  princes. 


*  Germanicus  was  believcl  to  i)e  '  it    may    be    doubted    whether     he 
actuated  on  this  occasion  in  part  by    allowed    motives    of    this    kind     to 
his    hostility    to    the    governor    of   influence  him. 
Syria,  Piso,  and  his  wife,  Plancina,  i      ^  Tacit.  Ann.  ii.  G8. 
whom  Vonones  had  courted.      But  1 


228  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  XIV. 

After  the  death  of  Germaniciis,  in  a.d.  19,  the 
details  of  the  Parthian  history  are  for  some  years  un- 
known to  ns.  It  appears  that 
during  this  interval  Artabanus  was 
engaged  in  wars  with  several  of 
the  nations  upon  his  borders,^ 
and  met  with  so  much  success 
that  he  came  after  a  while  to 
desire,  rather  than  fear,  a  rupture 

berius  was  now  an  old  man,^  and  that  he  was  dis- 
inclined to  engage  in  distant  wars ;  he  was  a^vare  that 
Germanicus  was  dead  ;  and  he  was  probably  not  much 
afraid  of  L.  Vitellius,  the  governor  of  Syria,  who  had 
been  recently  deputed  by  Tiberius  to  administer  that 
province.^  Accordingly  in  a.d.  34,  the  Armenian 
thi'one  being  once  more  vacant  by  the  death  of  Ar- 
taxias  (Zeno),  he  suddenly  seized  the  country,  and 
appointed  his  eldest  son,  whom  Dio  and  Tacitus  call 
simply  Arsaces,*  to  be  king.  At  the  same  time  he  sent 
ambassadors  to  require  the  restoration  of  the  treasure 
which  Vonones  had  carried  off  from  Parthia  and  had 
left  behind  him  in  Syria  or  Cilicia.  To  this  plain  and 
definite  demand  were  added  certain  vague  threats,  or 
boasts,  to  the  effect  that  he  was  the  rightful  master  of 
all  the  territory  that  had  belonged  of  old  to  Macedonia 
or  Persia,  and  that  it  was  his  intention  to  resume 
possession  of  the  provinces,  whereto,  as  the  representa- 


'  Tacit.  A7in.  vi.  ,31. 
"  Tiberius     was    seventy-five     in 
A.D.  84. 

'  Vitellius,  who  was  made  consul 


and  compare  Burton,    Jlist  of  First 
Three  Centtiries,  vol.  i.  p.  125.) 

■*  It    is   almost   certain    tliat   this 
prince    must   have    had    some    real 


at  the  bcjjinnin}]^  of  A.n.  ;?4,  appears  i  personal    name  besides    the    family 
(like  Germanicus)  to  have  at  once    title  of  Arsaces.     (See  Strab.  xv.  1, 
set    out     for    his    province.       (Seel  §36.) 
Joseph.    Ant.   Ji(<l.    xviii.   4,    §     2,  I 


cii.  XIV.]        artaba:n^us  quakkels  with  i:o3ie.         229 

tive  of  Cyrus  and  Alexander,  he  was  entitled.^  He  is 
said  to  have  even  commenced  operations  against  Cap- 
padocia,^  which  was  an  actual  portion  of  the  Roman 
Em])ire,  when  he  found  that  Tiberius,  so  far  from 
resenting  the  seizure  of  Armenia,  had  sent  instructions 
to  Vitellius,  that  he  was  to  cultivate  peaceful  relations 
with  Parthia.^  Apparently  he  thought  that  a  good 
opportunity  had  arisen  for  picking  a  quarrel  witli  his 
Western  neighbour,  and  was  determined  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  it.  The  aged  despot,  hidden  in  his  retreat 
of  Caprea?,  seemed  to  him  a  pure  oV)ject  of  contempt ; 
and.  he  entertained  the  confident  hope  of  defeating  his 
armies  and  annexing  portions  of  his  territory. 

But  Tiberius  was  under  no  circumstances  a  man  to 
be  wholly  despised.  Simultaneously  with  the  Parthian 
demands  and  threats,  intelligence  reached  him  that  the 
subjects  of  Artabanus  were  greatly  dissatisfied  with 
his  rule,  and  that  it  would  be  easy  by  fomenting  the 
discontent  to  bring  about  a  revolution.^  Some  of  the 
nobles  even  went  in  person  to  Eome  (a.d.  35),  and 
suggested  that  if  Phraates,  one  of  the  surviving  sons 
of  Phraates  IV,,  were  to  appear  under  Roman  pro- 
tection upon  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  an  insurrec- 
tion would  immediately  l)reak  out.  x\rtal)anus,  they 
said,  among  his  other  cruelties,  had  put  to  death  almost 
all  the  adult  males  of  the  Arsacid  family  ;  a  successful 
revolution  could  not  be  hoped  for  without  an  Arsacid 
leader;  if  Tiberius,  however,  would  deliver  to  them  the 
prince  for  whom  they  asked,  this  difficulty  would  be 
removed,  and  there  was  then  every  reason  to  expect  a 


*  Tacit.  A»i).  vi.  81.  1  Trpoc   ' kprdjiavov    tov   Tlnf/Juv  f3a(n/iea' 

^  Dio  Ciiss.  Iviii.  26.  E<p6i3Ei  yiip  avrdv  exO/mi  uv,  Knl  'Ap/ie- 

'  Joseph.  A  lit.  Jud.   xviii.    4,   §  4.    v/av    ■jr-apeairaGfiEvoc,   fir)  ini  nXeov  Ka- 

n.fpnt~i    (5f  Kn)   TiSfpioc   w?    OvLTiAXiov    Kovpyfj. 

ypufifiara,  ic-^evuv  avTov Trpdaaeiv  ^Mav  \      *  Tacit.  Aiui.  1.  s.  c. 


230  THE    SIXTH    3I0NAECHY.  [CH.    XIV. 

happy  issue  to  the  rebellion.  The  Emperor  was  not 
hard  to  persuade ;  he  no  doubt  argued,  that  whatever 
became  of  the  attempt  and  those  engaged  in  it,  one 
result  at  least  was  certain — Artabanus  would  find 
plenty  of  work  to  occupy  him  at  home,  and  would 
desist  from  his  foreio:n  as-ofressions.  He  therefore  let 
Pbraates  take  his  departure  and  proceed  to  Syria,  glad 
to  meet  the  danger  which  had  threatened  him  by  craft 
and  polic}^  rather  tban  by  force  of  arms.^ 

Artabanus  soon  became  aware  of  the  inti'igue.  He 
found  that  tlie  chief  conspirators  in  Parthia  were  a 
certain  Sinnaces,  a  nobleman  distinguished  alike  for  his 
high  birth  and  his  great  riches,  and  a  eunuch  named 
Abdus,  who  held  a  position  about  the  court,  and  was 
otherwise  a  personage  of  importance.  It  would  have 
been  easy  to  seize  these  two  men,  and  execute  them  ; 
but  Artal)anus  was  uncertain  how  far  the  conspiracy 
extended,  and  thought  it  most  prudent  to  defer  bring- 
ing matters  to  a  crisis.  He  therefore  dissembled,  and 
was  content  to  cause  a  delay,  first  ])y  administering  to 
Abdus  a  slow  poison,  and  then  by  engaging  Sinnaces 
so  constantly  in  affairs  of  state,  that  he  had  little  or 
no  time  to  devote  to  plotting.  Successful  thus  far  by 
his  own  cunning  and  dexterity,  he  was  further  helped 
by  a  stroke  of  good  fortune,  on  which  he  could  not 
have  calculated.  Phraates,  who  thought  that  after 
forty  years  of  residence  in  Pome,  it  was  necessary  to 
fit  himself  for  the  position  of  Parthian  king  V>y  re- 
suming the  long-disused  habits  of  his  nation,  was 
carried  off*,  after  a  short  residence  in  Syria,  by  a 
disease,  which   he  was   supposed  to  have  contracted 


*  '  Destinata     rctincns,      consiliis  1  procul  habere.'      Tac.  Ann.  y'u  S2, 
ct  astu  res  externas  inoliri ;    anna ' 


CH.  XIV.]  TIBERIUS    SUPPORTS    PliETENDERS.  231 

tlirouo'li  the  chan2:e  in  his  mode  of  life.^  His  death 
must  for  the  time  have  paralysed  the  conspirators,  and 
have  greatly  relieved  Artabanns.  It  was  perhaps  now, 
under  the  stimulus  of  a  sudden  change  from  feelings  of 
extreme  alarm  to  fancied  security,  that  he  wrote  the 
famous  letter  to  Tiberius,  ir^  which  he  reproached 
him  for  his  cruelty,  cowardice,  and  luxui-iousness  of 
living,  and  recommended  him  to  satisfy  the  just  desires 
of  the  subjects  who  hated  him,  by  an  immediate 
suicide.^ 

This  letter,  if  genuine,  must  be  pronounced  under 
any  circumstances  a  folly ;  and  if  really  sent  at  this 
time,  it  may  have  had  tragical  consequences.  It  is 
remarkable  that  Tiberius,  on  learning  the  death  of 
Phraates,  instead  of  relaxing,  intensified  his  efforts. 
Not  only  did  he  at  once  send  out  to  Syria  another  pre- 
tender, Tiridates,  a  nephew  of  the  deceased  prince,^ 
in  order  to  replace  him,  but  he  made  endeavours,  such 
as  we  do  not  hear  of  before,  to  engage  other  nations 
in  the  struggle;^  and  further,  he  enlarged  the  com- 
mission of  Vitellius,  giving  him  a  general  superintend- 
ence over  the  affairs  of  the  East.  Thus  Artabanus 
found  himself  in  greater  peril  than  ever,  and  if  he  had 
really  indulged  in  the  silly  effusion  ascriljed  to  him,  was 
rightly  punished.  Pharasmanes,  king  of  Iberia,  a 
portion  of  the  modern  Georgia,  incited  by  Tiberius, 


'  Tacit.  1.  s.  c.  ;  DioCas.s.  Iviii.  26.  '  so,  Tacitus  would  most  certainly 
'^  Sueton.  Tih.  ^  QCi  : — '  Quin  et  have  mentioned  it.  Tacitus  calls 
Artabani,  Parthoium  regis,  iacer-  him  'sanguinis  ejusdem  '  (of  the 
atus  est  Uteris,  i^arricidia  et  cisdes  same  familj^),  and  speaks  of  the 
et  ignaviam  et  luxuriani  objicientis,  elder  PiiT-a^ites  (Phta;ites  IV.)  as 
raonentisque  ut  voluntaria  inorte  his  grandfather  {Arm.  vi.  37),  but 
maximo  justissimoque  civiuni  odio  leaves  us  to  gu  >ss  which  son  of  this 
quampriinum  satisfaceret.'  ;  king  was  iiis  father.    1  suspect  it  wa3 

'  Dean    Merivale    calls    Tiridates    either  Rhodaspes  or  Seraspadancs. 
^  the  son  oiFhra.a.ie^'' (Rum.  Empire,        "*  Tacit.     Ann.    vi     32;     Joseph, 
vol.  V.  p.  416)  ;  but,  if  this  had  been  i  Ant.  Jud.  xviii.  4,  §  4. 


232 


THE    SIXTH   JVIONAKCHY. 


[CH.  XIV. 


took  tlie  field  (a.d.  35),  and  proclaimed  liis  intention 
of  placing  his  brother,  Mithridates,  on  the  Armenian 
throne.^  Having  by  corruption  succeeded  in  bringing 
about  the  murder  of  Arsaces  by  his  attendants,^  he 
marched  into  Ai'menia,  and  became  master  of  the 
capital  Avithout  meeting  any  resistance.  Artabanus, 
upon  this,  sent  his  son  Orodes  to  maintain  the  Parthian 
cause  in  the  disputed  province ;  but  he  proved  no 
match  for  the  Iberian,  who  was  superior  in  numbers, 
in  the  variety  of  his  troops,  and  in  familiarity  with  the 
localities.  Pharasmanes  had  obtained  the  assistance  of 
his  neighbours,  the  Albanians,  and,  opening  the  passes 
of  the  Caucasus,  had  admitted  through  them  a  number 
of  the  Scythic  or  Sarmatian  hordes,^  who  were  always 
ready,  when  their  swords  were  hired,  to  take  a  part  in 
the  quarrels  of  the  south.  Orodes  was  unable  to  procure 
either  mercenaries  or  allies,'*  and  had  to  contend  un- 
assisted against  the  three  enemies  who  had  joined  their 
forces  to  oppose  him.  For  some  time  he  pi'udently 
declined  an  eno^ao-ement ;  but  it  was  difficult  to  restrain 
the  ardour  of  his  troops,  whom  the  enemy  exaspei'ated 
by  their  reproaches.^  After  a  while  he  was  compelled 
to  accept  the  battle  which  Pharasmanes  incessantly 
offered.  His  force  consisted  entirely  of  cavalry,  while 
Pharasmanes  had  besides  his  horse  a  powerful  body  of 
infantry.  The  battle  was  nevertheless  stoutly  contested  ; 


'  Tiberius  had  suggested  this 
candidate.      (Tacit.  Ana.  1.  s.  c.) 

''  Ibid.  vi.  33. 

^  Tacitus  calls  them  Sarniatians 
{Ann.  vi.  33)  ;  Joseph  us,  Sryths 
Ant.  .Tad.  xviii.  4,  §  4).  i3olh 
writers  absurdly  bring  them  througli 
'  the  CdHpuiii,  Gales  ' ;  but  it  is  clear 
that  the  Mozdok  pass  of  the  Cau- 
casus is  meant. 

*  The   Sarmatians    were   ready  to 


have  sold  their  services  to  both 
sides;  but  the  Iberians  guarded  the 
main  pass  through  tlie  Caucisus; 
and  the  Derbend  pass,  between  the 
mouutams  and  the  Caspian,  was 
(accorduig  to  Tacitus)  impassable 
during  the  sumn^er  time,  being 
then  Hooded  by  the  sea.  {Ailu. 
1.  s.  c. ) 

^  Ibid.  vi.  34. 


CH.  XIY.]         WAR  WITH  PIIARAS.AIAXES  OF  IBERIA.  233 

and  the  victor}^  might  have  been  douhtful,  had  it  not 
happened  that  in  a  hand-to-hand  combat  between  the 
two  commanders,  Orodes  was  struck  to  the  ground  by 
his  antagonist,  and  thought  by  most  of  his  own  men 
to  be  killed/  As  usual  under  such  circumstances  in 
the  East,  a  rout  followed.  If  we  may  believe  Josephus,^ 
'many  tens  of  thousands'  were  slain.  Armenia  was 
wholly  lost ;  and  Artabanus  found  himself  left  with 
diminished  resources  and  tarnished  fame  to  meet  the 
intrigues  of  his  domestic  enemies. 

Still,  he  would  not  succumb  without  an  effort.  In 
the  spring  of  a.d.  36,  having  levied  the  whole  force  of 
the  Empire,  he  took  the  field  and  marched  northwards, 
determined,  if  possible,  to  revenge  himself  on  the  Ibe- 
rians and  recover  his  lost  province.^  But  his  first  efforts 
were  unsuccessful ;  and  before  he  could  renew  them, 
Vitellius  put  himself  at  the  head  of  his  legions,  and 
marching  towards  the  Euphrates  threatened  Meso- 
potamia with  invasion.  Placed  thus  between  two  fires, 
the  Parthian  monarch  felt  that  he  had  no  choice  but  to 
withdraw  from  Armenia  and  return  to  the  defence  of 
his  own  proper  territories,  which  in  his  absence  must 
have  lain  temptingly  open  to  an  enemy.  His  return 
caused  Vitellius  to  chano-e  his  tactics.  Instead  of 
measurincT  his  streno^th  asrainst  that  which  still  re- 
raained  to  Artabanus,  he  resumed  the  weapon  of  in- 
trigue so  dear  to  his  master,  and  proceeded  by  a  lavish 
expenditure  of  money "^  to  excite  disaffection  once 
more  among  the  Parthian  nobles.  This  time  con- 
spiracy was  successful.     The  military  disasters  of  the 


'  Tacit.  Ann.  vi.  35.  ',  Kal     <^lXovi     roiiS    eKeivov.       (Joseph. 

Ant.  Jud.  1.  s.  c.  1  Ant.  Jud.  1.   s.  c.)      Tacitus  omits 

Tacit.  Ann.  vi.  36.  this  feature. 

Tlofi—^  Xprjiidruv   «?  re    av/ytveii 


234  THE    SIXTH    MONAliCIIY,  [ciL  JIV. 

last  two  years  liad  alienated  from  Artabanus  the  affec- 
tions of  those  whom  his  previous  cruelties  had  failed 
to  disgust  or  alarm  ;  and  he  found  himself  without  any 
armed  force  whereon  he  could  rely,  beyond  a  small 
body  of  foreign  guards  which  he  maintained  about 
his  person.  It  seemed  to  him  that  his  only  safety  was 
in  flight ;  and  accordingly  he  quitted  his  capital  and 
removed  himself  hastily  into  H3n'cania,  which  was  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Scythian  Dahse,  among 
whom  he  had  been  brought  up.  Here  the  natives 
were  friendly  to  him,  and  he  lived  a  retired  life,  waiting 
(as  he  said)  until  the  Parthians,  who  could  judge  an 
absent  prince  with  equity,  though  they  could  not  long 
continue  faithful  to  a  present  one,  should  repent  of 
their  behaviour  to  him.-* 

Upon  learning  the  flight  of  Artabanus,  Vitellius  ad- 
vanced to  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  and  introduced 
Tiridates  into  his  kingdom.^  Fortunate  omens  were 
said  to  have  accompanied  the  passago  of  the  river; 
and  these  were  followed  by  adhesions  of  greater  im- 
2:)ortance.  Ornospades,  satrap  of  Mesopotamia,  was 
the  flrst  to  join  the  standard  of  the  pi"etender  with  a 
large  l)ody  of  horse.  He  was  followed  by  the  con- 
spirator Sinnaces,  his  father  Abdageses,  the  keeper  of 
the  king's  treasures,  and  other  personages  of  high 
position.  The  Greek  cities  in  Mesopotamia  readily 
opened  their  gates  to  a  monarch  long  domiciled  at 
Ivome,  fi'om  whom  they  expected  a  politeness  and 
refinement  that  would  harmonise  better  with  their 
feelings  than  tlic  manners  of  the  late  king,  bi-ed  up 
among    the  uncivilised  Scyths.     Parthian   towns,  like 

'  '  Interim     posse     Parthos,     ab- 1      ^  Ibid.     vi.     37.         The      Roman 
sentiuin    stquos,     praeseiilibus    nio-   general    almost    immediately   retir- 
biles,  iid  poenitentiain  iiiiitari.'    Tac.    eJ. 
Ann.  vi.  3(i,  (ul  Jin.  1 


CH.  XIV.]  TIEIDATES    II.    BECOMES    KING.  235 

Halus  and  Artemita,*  followed  their  example.  Seleucia, 
the  second  city  in  the  Empire,  received  the  new 
monarch  with  an  ol)sequiousness  that  bordered  on 
adulation.^  Not  content  with  paying  him  all  customary 
royal  honours,  they  appended  to  their  acclamations 
disparaging  remarks  upon  his  predecessor,  whom  they 
affected  to  regard  as  the  issue  of  an  adulterous  intrigue, 
and  as  no  true  Arsacid.  Tiridates  was  pleased  to  reward 
the  unseemly  flattery  of  these  degenerate  Greeks  by  a 
new  arrangement  of  their  constitution.  Hitherto  they 
had  lived  under  the  government  of  a  Senate  of  Three 
Hundred  members,  the  wisest  and  wealthiest  of  the 
citizens,  a  certain  control  being,  however,  secured  to 
the  people.  Artai^anus  had  recently  modified  the  con- 
stitution in  an  aristocratic  sense  ;  and  therefore  Tiridates 
pursued  the  contrary  course,  and  established  an  un- 
bridled democracy  in  the  place  of  a  mixed  govern- 
ment. He  then  entered  Ctesiphon,  the  capital,  and 
after  waiting  some  days  for  certain  noblemen,  who  had 
expressed  a  wish  to  attend  his  coronation  but  con- 
tinually put  off  their  coming,  he  was  crowned  in  the 
ordinary  manner  by  the  Surena  of  the  time  being,' in 
the  sight  and  amid  the  acclamations  of  a  vast  multi- 
tude. 

The  pretender  now  regarded  his  work  as  completed, 
and  forl)ore  any  further  efforts.  The  example  of  the 
Western  provinces  would,  he  assumed,  be  followed  by 
the  Eastern,  and  the  monarch  approved  by  Mesopo- 
tamia, Babylonia,  and  the  capital  would  carry,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  the  rest  of  the  nation.  Policy  required 
that  the  general  acquiescence  should  not  have  been 


'Tacit.    Ami.    vi.    41.      Artetnita    of  Halus  is  unknown, 
was  in  SittacOne,  not  far  from.  Ctesi-  j      "  Tacit.  Ann.  vi.  42. 
phon  (Stra'>.  xvi.  1,   §  7).     The  site  ! 


236  THE    SIXTH   MONARCHY.  [cH.    XIV. 

taken  for  granted.  Tiridates  sliould  have  made  a 
military  progress  tlirougli  the  East,  no  less  than  the 
West,^  and  have  sought  out  his  rival  in  the  distant 
Hyrcania,  and  slain  him,  or  driven  him  beyond  the 
borders.  Instead  of  thus  occupying  himself,  he  was 
content  to  besiege  a  stronghold  where  Artabanus  had 
left  his  treasure  and  his  harem.  This  conduct  was 
imprudent ;  and  the  imprudence  cost  him  his  crown. 
That  fickle  temper  which  Artabanus  had  noted  in  his 
countrymen  began  to  work  so  soon  as  the  new  king 
was  well  installed  in  his  office ;  the  coveted  j)ost  of 
chief  vizier  could  but  be  assigned  to  one,  and  the 
selection  of  the  fortunate  individual  was  the  disappoint- 
ment of  a  host  of  expectants ;  nobles  absent  from  the 
coronation,  whether  by  choice  or  necessity,  began  to 
be  afraid  that  their  absence  would  cost  them  dear, 
when  Tiridates  had  time  to  reflect  upon  it  and  to  listen 
to  their  detractors.  The  thoughts  of  the  malcontents 
turned  towards  their  dethroned  monarch ;  and  emis- 
saries were  dispatched  to  seek  him  out,  and  put  before 
him  the  project  of  a  restoration.  He  was  found  in 
Hyrcania,  in  a  miserable  dress  and  plight,  living  on 
the  produce  of  his  bow.  At  first  he  suspected  the 
messengers,  believing  that  their  intention  was  to  seize 
him  and  deliver  him  up  to  Tii-idates  ;  but  it  was  not 
long  ere  they  persuaded  him  tliat,  wliether  their  affec- 
tion for  himself  were  true  or  feigned,  their  enmity  to 
Tiridates  was  real.^  They  had  indeed  no  worse  charges 
to  bring  against  this  prince  tlian  liis  youth,  and  the 
softness  of  his  lioman  breeding  ;  but  they  were  evi- 
dently in  earnest,  and  had  committed  themselves  too 
deeply  to  make  it  possible  for  them  to  retract.     Arta- 

'  Tacit.  Ann.  vi.  43.  j  in  amorc,  odia  non  fingere.'     (Tacit, 

''  '  Sensit   vctus   regnandi,    falsos  '  Ann.  vi.  44.) 


en.  XIV.]  WAR  OF  TirjDATES  WITH  ARTABANUS.  237 

banus,  therefore,  accepted  their  offers,  and  having  ob- 
tained the  services  of  a  body  of  Dahse  and  other 
Scyths,^  proceeded  westward,  retaining  the  miserable 
garb  and  plight  in  which  he  had  been  found,  in  order 
to  draw  men  to  his  side  by  pity  ;  and  making  all  haste, 
in  order  that  liis  enemies  might  have  less  opportunity 
to  prepare  obstructions  and  his  friends  less  time  to 
chano'e  tlieir  minds.  He  reached  the  nei<i;hbourhood 
of  Ctesiphon  while  Tiridates  was  still  doubting  what  he 
should  do,  distracted  between  the  counsels  of  some  who 
recommended  an  immediate  engagement  with  tlie  rebels 
before  they  recovered  from  the  fatigues  of  their  long 
march  or  grew  accustomed  to  act  together,  and  of  others 
who  advised  a  I'etreat  into  Mesopotamia,  reliance  upon 
the  Armenians  and  other  tribes  of  the  north,^  and  a 
union  with  the  Roman  troops,  which  Vitellius,  on  the 
first  news  of  what  had  happened,  had  thrown  across  the 
Euphrates.  The  more  timid  counsel  had  the  support 
of  Abdageses,  whom  Tiridates  had  made  his  vizier, 
and  therefore  naturally  prevailed,  the  prince  himself 
being  moi'eover  of  an  unwarlike  temper.  It  had, 
in  appearance,  much  to  recommend  it ;  and  if  its 
execution  liad  been  in  the  hands  of  Occidentals,  mio^ht 
have  succeeded.  But,  in  the  East,  the  first  movement 
in  retreat  is  taken  as  a  confession  of  weakness  and 
almost  as  an  act  of  despair:  an  order  to  retire  is 
regarded  as  a  direction  to  fly.  No  sooner  was  the 
Tigris  crossed   and  the   march    through  Mesopotamia 


'  Tacitus     says     '  Sc\-ths'     only  that  lie  would  obtain  airl  from  them, 

('auxilia    Scytharum');    Josephus,  '■'Tacitus    says    'the   Armenians 

'  Daliye    and    Sacfe'    (orpaTiav   Aauv  and   E/i/iiutfOis''    (vi.   44);    but    the 

Tt   fcni    Sa/ccji').     The    early    connec-  latter   la\'    exactly    in    the  opposite 

tion   of    Artabanus  with  the  D  ih;B  quarter  to  Armenia,  and  seem  to  be 

(Tac.   Ann.  ii.  3)  makes  it  probable  wrongly  mentioned. 


238  THE    SIXTH'  MONARCHY.  [CH.    XIV. 

began,  than  the  host  of  Tiridates  melted  away  like  an 
iceberg  in  the  Gulf  Stream.  The  tribes  of  the  Desei't 
set  the  example  of  flight;^  and  in  a  little  time  almost 
the  whole  army  had  dispersed,  drawing  off  either  to 
the  camp  of  the  enemy  or  to  their  homes.  Tiridates 
reached  the  Euphrates  with  a  mere  handful  of  followers, 
and  crossing  into  Syria  found  himself  once  more  safe 
under  the  protection  of  the  Eomans. 

The  flight  of  Tiridates  gave  Parthia  back  into  the 
hands  of  its  former  ruler.  Artabanus  reoccupied  the 
throne,  apparently  without  having  to  fight  a  battle.^ 
He  seems,  however,  not  to  have  felt  himself  sti'ong 
enough  either  to  resume  his  designs  upon  Armenia,  or 
to  retaliate  in  any  way  upon  the  Romans  for  their  sup- 
port of  Tiridates.  Mithridates,  the  Il)eriau,  was  left  in 
quiet  possession  of  the  Armenian  kingdom,  and  Vitel- 
lius  found  himself  unmolested  on  the  Euphrates. 
Tiberius,  however,  was  anxious  that  the  war  with 
Parthia  should  be  formally  terminated,  and,  having 
failed  in  his  attempts  to  fill  the  Parthian  throne  with  a 
Koman  nominee,  was  ready  to  acknowledge  Artabanus, 
and  ea<>:er  to  enter  into  a  treaty  with  him.  lie  in- 
structed  Vitellius  to  this  effect;'^  and  that  officer  (late 
in  A.D.  36  or  early  in  a.d.  37),  having  invited  Artabanus 
to  an  interview  on  the  Euphrates,^  persuaded  him  to 


*  '  Principio  a  gente  Arabum  fac- 
to.' (Tacit.  Ann.  1.  s.  c.)  The  Ara- 
Inans  of  the  Mesopotamian  Desert 
are  probably  intended. 

^  Joseph  lis  says  :  Ylo^.e/iT/aai  rnvi 
avOeaTTjKdrni  KurenxK  t?/v  (ipxijV 
(Ant.  Jiid.  xviii.  4,  §  4,  ndjin.)  ;  but 
the  fuller  narrative  of  Tacitus  shows 


view  at  some  length.  The  Euphrates 
was  bridged  in  the  usual  way,  by  a 
bridge  of  boats,  and  the  two  chiefs 
met,  each  accompanied  by  a  guard, 
midway  on  tlie  bridge.  After  the 
conditions  of  peace  had  been  settled, 
Ilcrod  Antipas,  who  was  present  as 
a     Roman     ally,      entertained     the 


that    there    was    no    actual    fimht-  !  Parthian  king  and  Koman  governor 


ir.g. 

'  Joseph.  Ant.  Jud.  xviii.  4,  §  5. 
*  Josephus   describes   this   inter- 


at  a  banquet,  held  in  a  magnificent 
tent  erected  midway  between  the 
two  shores. 


CH.    XIY.'j  AKTA15ANUS    RECOVERS    THE    TTTROXE.  239 

terms  wliicli  were  regarded  by  the  Komans  as  highly 
honourable  to  themselves,  though  Artabanus  probably 
did  not  feel  them  to  be  deo-radino;  to  Parthia.  Peace 
and  amity  were  re-estaVjlished  between  the  two  nations. 
Rome,  it  may  ])e  assumed,  undertook  to  withhold  her 
countenance  from  all  pretenders  to  the  Parthian  throne, 
and  Parthia  withdrew  her  claims  upon  Armenia. 
Artabanus  was  j^ersuaded  to  send  his  son,  Darius,  with 
some  other  Parthians  of  rank,  to  Pome,  and  was  thus 
regarded  by  the  Romans  as  having  given  hostages  for 
his  good  behaviour.^  He  was  also  induced  to  throw  a 
few  grains  of  frankincense  on  the  sacrificial  fii*e  which 
burnt  in  front  of  the  Roman  standards  and  the  Imperial 
images,  an  act  whicli  Avas  accepted  at  Rome  as  one  of 
submission  and  homage,^  The  terms  and  circumstances 
of  the  peace  did  not  become  known  in  Italy  till  Tiberius 
had  been  succeeded  by  Caligula  (March,  a.d,  37).'^ 
When  known,  they  gave  great  satisfaction,  and  were 
regarded  as  glorious  alike  to  the  negotiator,  Vitellius, 
and  to  the  prince  whom  he  represented.  The  false 
report  was  spread  that  the  Parthian  monarch  had 
granted  to  the  new  Caesar  what  his  contempt  and 
hatred  would  have  caused  him  to  refuse  to  Tiberius ; 
and  the  inclination  of  the  Romans  towards  their  young 
sovereign  was  intensified  by  the  ascription  to  him  of  a 
diplomatic  triumph  which  belonged  of  right  to  his 
predecessor. 

Contemporaneously  witk  the  troubles  which  have 


'  The    term   '  hostage  '  is  used  by  i      ^  Sueton.    Calig.   §  14  ;  Dio  Cass. 
Josephus  (1.  s.  c. ),  Suetonius  {Cnlig.  '  1.  s.  c. 

§  19),  and  Dio  (lix.  27).  One  would  '  This  seems  tome  the  best  mode 
be  gild  to  know  whether  ihe  of  reconciling  Joseph.  Atd.  Jud. 
Parthians  themselves  regarded  the  xviii.  4,  §  5  with  Dio  Cass.  lix.  27 
transaction  in  tlie  same  hght  as  the  and  Sueton.  Calig.  1.  s,  c. ;  Vitell. 
Romans  ap()car  to  hive  done.  §2. 


240  THE    SIXTH    MONAECHY.  [CH.    XTV. 

been  above  described,  but  reaching  down,  it  would 
seem,  a  few  years  beyond  them,  were  other  disturb- 
ances of  a  pecular  character  in  one  of  the  Westei'n 
provinces  of  the  Empire.  .  The  Jewish  element  in  the 
population  of  Western  Asia  had  been  one  of  import- 
ance from  a  date  anterior  to  the  rise,  not  only  of  the 
Parthian,  but  even  of  the  Persian,  Empiie.  Dispersed 
colonies  of  Jews  were  to  be  found  in  Babylonia, 
Armenia,  Media,  Susiana,  Mesopotamia,  and  probably 
in  other  Parthian  provinces.^  These  colonies  dated 
from  the  time  of  Nebuchadnezzars  captivity,  and  ex- 
hibited everywhere  the  remarkable  tendency  of  the 
Jewish  race  to  an  increase  disproportionate  to  that  of 
the  population  among  which  they  are  settled.  Ihe 
Jewish  element  became  perpetually  larger  and  more 
important  in  Babylonia  and  Mesopotamia,  in  spite  of 
the  draughts  which  were  made  upon  it  by  Seleucus 
and  other  Syrian  princes.^  Under  the  Parthians,  it 
would  seem  that  the  Mesopotamian  Jews  enjoyed  gene- 
rally the  same  sort  of  toleration,  and  the  same  permis- 
sion to  exercise  a  species  of  self-government,  which 
Jews  and  Christians  enjoy  now  in  many  parts  of 
Turkey.  They  formed  a  recognised  community,  had 
some  cities  which  were  entirely  their  own,  possessed  a 
common  treasury,  and  from  time  to  time  sent  up  to 
Jerusalem  the  offerings  of  the  people  under  the  protec- 
tion of  a  convoy  of  30,000  or  40,000  men.*  The 
Parthian  kings  treated  them  well,  and  no  doubt  valued 
them  as  a  counterpoise  to  the  disaffected  Greeks  and 
Syrians  of  this  part  of  their  Empire.     They  had  no 

'  Compare    Acts    ii.    9 ;    Joseph.  I      '  On    the   transfer  of  Jews  h-om 
Ant.  Jud.  xvi    6,  §  1  ;  xviii.  9,  §  1 ;    Babylonia  to   Antioch,   see  Josepli. 
Philo.     Lerj.    nd    Gaium,    p.    'l6'd2;\  Ant.    Jud.    xii.    3,   §  1  ;  contr.  A/: 
Mos.    Chor.   Hist.  Armen.  ii.  3,   7 ;  j  ii.  4. 
&c.  I      ^  Joseph.    Ant.  Jud  xviii.  9,  §  1. 


CH.   Xn^]  I2fTERNAL    TROUBLES    OF    PARTHIA.  241 

grievance  of  which  to  complain,  and  it  might  have 
been  thought  very  unlikely  that  any  troubles  would 
arise  in  connection  with  them ;  but  circumstances 
seemingly  trivial  threw  the  whole  community  into 
commotion,  and  led  on  to  disasters  of  a  very  lament- 
able character. 

Two  young  Jews,  Asinai  and  Anilai,  brothers, 
natives  of  Nearda,  the  city  in  which  the  treasury  of 
the  community  was  established,  upon  suffering  some 
ill-treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  manufacturer  who 
employed  them,  gave  up  their  trade,  and  withdrawing 
to  a  marshy  district  between  two  arms  of  the  Euphrates, 
made  up  their  minds  to  live  by  robbery.^  A  band  of 
needy  youths  soon  gathered  about  them,  and  they 
became  the  terror  of  the  entire  neighbourhood.  They 
exacted  a  black-mail  from  the  peaceable  population  of 
shepherds  and  others  who  lived  near  them,  made  oc- 
casional plundering  raids  to  a  distance,  and  I'eqaired 
an  acknowledgment  (hakhsliish)  from  travellers.  Their 
doings  having  become  notorious,  the  satraj)  of  Baby- 
lonia marched  against  them  with  an  army,  intending 
to  surprise  them  on  the  Sabbath,  when  it  Avas  supposed 
that  they  would  not  fight ;  but  his  approach  was  dis- 
covered, it  was  determined  to  disresrard  the  oblio-ation 
of  Sal^batical  rest,  and  the  satrap  was  himself  surprised 
and  completely  defeated.  Artabanus,  having  heard  of 
the  disaster,  made  overtures  to  the  brothers,  and  after 
receiving  a  visit  from  them  at  his  court,  assigned  to 
Asinai,  the  elder  of  the  two,  the  entire  government  of 
the  Babylonian  satrapy.     The  experiment  appeared  at 


*  This  narrativr>  rests  wholly  upon    know  of  Parthia  at  this  timo,  have 
the    a\ithority     of    Josephiis.       Its    led    to    its    acceptance    by    Milman 
internal  probability,    its  thoroughly    and  other  writers    not  inclined   to 
Oriental  colourinf:f,  and  its  <reneral  !  credulity, 
harmony   with    what   we  otherwise  | 


242  THE    SIXTH    MONAKCHY.  [CH.  XTV, 

first  to  have  completely  succeeded.  Asiiiai  governed 
the  pro\iiice  with  prudence  and  zeal,  and  for  fifteen 
yeai'S^  no  complaint  was  made  against  his  administra- 
tion. But  at  the  end  of  this  time  the  lawless  temper, 
held  in  resti'aint  for  so  long,  reassei'ted  itself,  not,  in- 
deed, in  Asinai,  but  in  his  brother.  Anilai  fell  in  love 
witli  the  wife  of  a  Parthian  magnate,  commander  (ap- 
parently) of  the  Parthian  troops  stationed  in  Babylonia, 
and,  seeing  no  other  way  of  obtaining  his  wishes,  made 
war  upon  the  chieftain  and  killed  him.  He  then 
married  the  object  of  his  affections,  and  might  perhaps 
have  been  content;  but  the  Jews  under  Asinai's 
government  remonstrated  against  the  ich;latries  which 
the  Parthian  woman  had  introduced  into  a  Jewish 
household,  and  prevailed  on  Asinai  to  require  that  she 
should  be  divorced.  His  compliance  with  their  wishes 
proved  fatal  to  him,  for  the  woman,  fearing  the  conse- 
quences, contrived  to  poison  Asinai ;  and  the  authority 
which  he  had  wielded  passed  into  the  hands  of  Anilai, 
without  (so  far  as  we  hear)  any  fresh  appointment  from 
the  Parthian  monarch.  Anilai  had,  it  appears,  no  in- 
stincts but  those  of  a  freebooter,  and  he  was  no  sooner 
settled  in  the  government  than  he  proceeded  to  indulge 
them  by  attacking  the  territory  of  a  neighbouring 
satrap,  Mithridates,  who  was  not  only  a  Parthian  of 
high  I'ank,  but  had  married  one  of  the  daughters  of 
Artabanus.  Mitliridates  flew  to  arms  to  defend  his 
province ;  but  Anilai  fell  upon  his  encampment  in  tlie 
night,  completely  routed  his  troops,  and  took  Mithri- 
dates himself  prisoner.  Having  subjected  him  to  a 
gross  indignity,^  he  Avas  nevertheless  afraid  to  put  him 

'  Probably  from  about  a.d.  19  to  ;  was  conveyed  from  the  battle-field 
•34.  I  to  the  camp  of  the  victors.  (Joseph. 

^  Mithridates  was  stripped  naked  j  A.  J.  xviii.  9,  g  G.) 
and  set  upon  an  ass,  and  in  this  guise  I 


CH.  XIY.]  ASINAI   AND    ANILAI.  243 

to  deathj  lest  the  Partliian  king  should  avenge  the 
slaughter  of  his  relative  on  the  Jews  of  Babylon, 
Mithridates  was  consequently  released,  and  returned  to 
his  wife,  who  was  so  indignant  at  the  insult  whereto  he 
had  been  subjected,  that  she  left  him  no  peace  till  he 
collected  a  second  army  and  resumed  the  ^var.  Anilai 
was  no  ways  daunted.  Quitting  his  stronghold  in  the 
marshes,  he  led  his  troops  a  distance  of  ten  miles 
through  a  hot  and  dry  plain  to  meet  the  enemy,  thus 
unnecessarily  exhausting  them,  and  exposing  them  to 
the  attack  of  their  enemies  under  the  most  unfavourable 
circumstances.  He  was  of  course  defeated  with  loss ; 
but  he  himself  escaped  and  revenged  himself  by  carry- 
ing fire  and  sword  over  the  lands  of  the  Babylonians, 
who  had  hitherto  lived  peaceably  under  his  protection. 
The  Babylonians  sent  to  Nearda  and  demanded  his 
surrender;  but  the  Jews  of  Nearda,  even  if  they  had 
had  the  will,  had  no  power  to  comply.  A  pretence 
was  then  made  of  arranging  matters  by  negotiation  ; 
but  the  Babylonians,  having  in  this  way  obtained  a 
knowledge  of  the  position  which  Anilai  and  his  troops 
occupied,  fell  upon  them  in  the  night,  when  they  were 
all  either  drunk  or  asleep,  and  at  one  stroke  extermi- 
rated  the  whole  band. 

Thus  far,  no  great  calamity  had  occurred.  Two 
Jewish  robber-chiefs  had  been  elevated  into  the  posi- 
tion of  Parthian  satraps  ;  and  the  result  had  been,  first, 
fifteen  years  of  peace,  and  then  a  short  civil  war,  end- 
ing in  the  destruction  of  the  surviving  chief  and  the 
annihilation  of  the  band  of  marauders.  But  the 
lamentable  consequences  of  the  commotion  were  now 
to  show  themselves.  The  native  Babylonians  had 
always  looked  with  dislike  on  the  Jewish  colony,  and 
occasions  of   actual  collision  between  the  two   bodies 


244 


THE    SIXTH    MONAKCHY. 


[CII.  XIV, 


had  not  been  wholly  wanting.^  The  circumstances  of 
the  existing  time  seemed  to  furnish  a  good  excuse  for 
an  outbreak;  and  scarcely  were  Anilai  and  his  fol- 
lowers destroyed,  when  the  Jews  of  Babylon  were  set 
upon  by  their  native  fellow-citizens.  Unable  to  make 
an  effectual  resistance,  they  resolved  to  retire  from  the 
place,  and,  at  the  immense  loss  which  such  a  migration 
necessarily  costs,  they  quitted  Babylon  and  transferred 
themselv^es  in  great  numbers  to  Seleucia.  Here  they 
lived  quietly  for  five  years  (about  a.d.  34-39),  but 
in  the  sixth  year  (a.d.  40)  fresh  troubles  broke  out. 
The  remnant  of  the  Jews  at  Babylon  were  assailed, 
either  by  their  old  enemies  or  by  a  ])estilence,~  and  took 
refuge  at  Seleucia  with  their  brethren.  It  happened 
that  at  Seleucia  there  was  a  feud  of  long  standing 
between  the  Syrian  population  and  tlie  Greeks.  The 
Jews  naturally  joined  the  Syrians,  whoAvere  a  kindred 
race,  and  the  two  together  brought  the  Greeks  under; 
whereupon  these  last  contrived  to  come  to  terms  with 
the  Syrians,  and  persuaded  them  to  join  in  an  attack 
on  their  late  allies.  Against  the  com])ined  Greeks  and 
Syrians  the  Jews  were  powei'less,  and  in  the  massacre 
which  ensued  they  lost  above  50,000  men  The 
remnant  withdrew  to  Ctesiphon;  but  even  there  the 
malice  of  their  enemies  pursued  them,  and  the  pei'se- 
cution  was  only  brought  to  an  end  by  their  quitting 
the  metropolitan  cities  altogether,  and  withdrawing  to 
ithe  provincial  towns  of  which  they  were  the  sole  occu- 
pants.^ 


'  Josepli.   Ant.   Jud.  xviii.  9,  §  8. 

Aci  loi  ETTl  no?,v  dtd([>oi)ni  KaOearf/KEGav, 
KOl  unoTtpnii  TZfipnyt  I'DiTo  Oa^l)Elv  npo- 
Tepov  a?.\i^?.G)v  T)  TT  r  n  '/  T  n  . 

'  The     words    of    Jopcphus    (rw 

Ikto)    erei    0f<pd    iv    lidiSvAdivi    fyivero 


avTiJv)  arc  ambiguous.  Dean  Mil- 
man  understood  them  to  intend  a 
pestilence.  {lUMort/  of  the  Jews, 
vol.  ii.  p.  189.  t2mo.  edit) 

'  Joseph.  Ant.  Jud.  xviii.  9,  §  9 


CII.  Xl^'.]  REFLECTIOlSrS    ON    THE    TROUBLES.  245 

The  narrative  of  these  event  derives  its  interest,  not 
so  much  from  any  sympathy  that  we  can  feel  with  any 
of  the  actors  in  it,  as  from  the  light  whicb.  it  throws 
upon  the  character  of  the  Parthian  rule,  and  the  con- 
dition of  the  countries  under  Parthian  government. 
In  the  details  given  we  seem  once  more  to  trace  a  near 
resemblance  between  the  Parthian  system  and  that  of 
the  Turks  ;  we  seem  to  see  thrown  back  into  the 
mirror  of  the  past  an  image  of  those  terrible  conflicts 
and  disorders  which  have  passed  before  our  own  eyes 
in  Syria  and  the  Lebanon  while  under  acknowledged 
Turkish  sovereignty.  The  picture  has  the  same 
features  of  antipathies  of  race  unsoftened  by  time  and 
contact,  of  perpetual  feud  bursting  out  into  occasional 
conflict,  of  undying  religious  animosities,  of  strange 
combinations,  of  fearful  massacres,  and  of  a  govern- 
ment looking  tamely  on,  and  allowing  things  for  the 
most  part  to  take  their  course.  AVe  see  how  utterly 
the  Parthian  system  failed  to  blend  together  or  amal- 
gamate the  conquered  peoples ;  and  not  only  so,  but 
how  impotent  it  was  even  to  effect  the  first  object  of 
a  government,  the  securing  of  peace  and  tranquillity 
within  its  borders.  If  indeed  it  were  necessary  to 
believe  that  the  picture  brought  before  us  represented 
truthfully  the  normal  condition  of  the  people  and 
countries  with  which  it  is  concerned,  we  should  be 
forced  to  conclude  that  Parthian  government  was 
merely  another  name  for  anarchy,  and  that  it  was  only 
good  fortune  that  preserved  the  empire  from  falling  to 
pieces  at  this  early  date,  within  two  centuries  of  its 
establishment.  But  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the 
reign  of  Artabanus  III.  represents,  not  the  normal,  but 


See  above,  pp.  25  and  1 93. 


246  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  ,     [CH.  XIV. 

an  excei^tional  state  of  tilings — a  state  of  things  wLicli 
could  only  arise  in  Partliia  wlien  the  powers  of  govern- 
ment were  relaxed  in  consequence  of  rebellion  and 
civil  war.^  We  must  remember  that  Artabanus  was 
actually  twice  driven  from  his  kingdom,  and  that 
during  the  greater  part  of  his  reign  he  lived  in  per- 
petual fear  of  revolt  and  insurrection.  It  is  not  im- 
probable that  the  culminating  atrocities  of  the  struggle 
above  described  synchronised  with  the  second  expul- 
sion of  the  Parthian  monarch,^  and  are  thus  not  so 
much  a  sign  of  the  ordinary  weakness  of  the  Parthian 
rule,  as  of  the  terrible  strength  of  the  forces  which  that 
rule  for  the  most  part  kept  under  control. 

The  causes  which  led  to  the  second  expulsion  of 
Artabanus  ^  are  not  distinctly  stated,  but  they  were 
probably  not  very  different  fi*om  those  that  brought 
about  the  first.  Artabanus  was  undoubtedly  a  harsh 
ruler ;  and  those  who  fell  under  his  displeasure,  natu- 
rally fearing  his  severity,  and  seeing  no  way  of  meeting 
it  but  by  a  revolution,  were  driven  to  adopt  extreme 
measures.  Somethins;  like  a  oreneral  combination  of 
the  nobles  against  him  seems  to  have  taken  place 
al>out  the  year  a.d.  40  ;  and  it  appears  that  he,  on 
becoming  aware  of  it,  determined  to  quit  the  capital 
and  throw  himself  on  the  protection  of  one  of  the 
tributary  monarchs.     This  was  Izates,  the  sovereign  of 


'  Strabo  fxi.  9,  §  2)  praises  the 
Parthian  rule  as  salutary  and  vig- 
orous {xpr/ai/iov  npdi  i/ysfioviav). 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
nation  showed  sornetliing;  of  that 
aptitude  for  command  and  govern- 
ment which  distinjijuishes  the  Turks. 
The  Jewish  troubles  precede  in 


death  of  Artabanus,  which  followed 
closely  upon  his  second  expulsion 
and  restoration  (Joseph.  A.  J.  xx. 
8,  §  4),  is  shown  by  the  series  of 
Parthian  coins  to  have  happened  m 
.\.D.  42. 

^  This  portion   of  the  history  de- 
pends  wholly  on  the  authority    of 


Josephus  his  account  of  the  death  of  Josephus,  who  is  not  perhaps  to  be 
Calijiuhi,  so  that  apparently  they  '  implicitly  trusted.  (See  Ant.  Jud. 
fall    iato    the   year    ad.    4')"      The    xx.  8.  §  i-3.) 


en.  XIV.] 


DEATH    OF   ARTABANUS. 


247 


Adiabene,  or  the  tract  between  the  Zab  rivers,  who  is 
said  to  have  been  a  convert  to  Judaism.^  On  the 
flight  of  Artabanus  to  Izates,  it  would  seem  that  the 
Megistanes  formally  deposed  him,  and  elected  in  his 
place  a  certain  Kinnam,  or  Kinnamus,  an  Arsacid  w^ho 
had  been  brought  up  by  the  king.  Izates,  ^vhen  he 
interfered  on  behalf  of  the  deposed  monarch,  w- as  met 
by  the  objection  that  the  newly-elected  prince  had 
rights  which  could  not  be  set  aside.  The  difficulty  ap- 
peared insuperable  ;  but  it  was  overcome  V>y  the  volun- 
tary act  of  Kinnamus,  who  wrote  to  Artabanus  and 
oifered  to  retire  in  his  favour.  Hereupon  Artabanus 
returned  and  remounted  his  throne,  Kinnamus  carrying 
his  magnanimity  so  far  as  to  strip  the  diadem  from  his 
own  brow  and  replace  it  on  the  head  of  the  old 
monarch.  A  condition  of  the  restoration  was  a  com- 
plete amnesty  for  all  political  offences,  which  was  not 
only  promised  by  Artabanus,  but  likewise  guaranteed 
by  Izates. 

It  was  very  shortly  after  his  second  restoi'ation  to 
the  throne  that  Artabanus  died.  One  further  calamity 
must,  however,  be  noticed  as  having  fallen  within  the 
limits  of  his  reign.  The  great  city  of  Seleucia,  the 
second  in  the  Empire,  shortly  after  it  had  experienced 
the  troubles  above  narrated,^  revolted  absolutely  from 
the  Parthian  power,  and  declared  itself  independent. 
No  account  has  reached  us  of  the  circumstances  which 
caused  this  revolt ;  but  it  was  indicative  of  a  feeling 
that  Parthia  was  beginning  to  decline,  and  that  the 
disintegration  of  the  Empire  was  a  thing  that  might  be 


'  Ibid.  XX.  2,  §  3. 

^  The  reduction  of  Seleucia  ap- 
pears from  Tacitus  to  have  fallen 
into  the  year  a.d.  46.  This  was, 
he  says   (xi.   9),    the  seventh  year 


after  it  revolted.  The  revolt  must 
therefore  have  taken  place  in  a.d. 
40.  That  it  fell  in  the  reign  of  Ar- 
tabanus appears  from  Tacit.  Ann. 
xi.  8. 


248 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.    XIV. 


expected.  The  Seleucians  had  at  no  time  been  con- 
tented with  their  position  as  Parthian  subjects.  Whether 
they  supposed  that  they  could  stand  alone,  or  whether 
they  looked  to  enjoying  under  Roman  protection  a 
greater  degree  of  independence  than  had  been  allowed 
them  by  the  Parthians,  is  uncertain.  They  revolted, 
however,  in  a.d.  40,  and  declared  themselves  a  self- 
governing  community.  It  does  not  appear  that  the 
Romans  lent  them  any  assistance,  or  broke  for  their 
sake  the  peace  established  with  Parthia  in  a.d.  37. 
The  Seleucians  had  to  depend  upon  themselves  alone, 
and  to  maintain  their  rebellion  by  means  of  their  own 
resources.  No  doubt  Artabanus  proceeded  at  once  to 
attack  them,  but  his  arms  made  no  impression.  They 
were  successful  in  defending  their  independence 
during  his  reign,  and  for  some  time  afterwards,  al- 
though compelled  in  the  end  to  succumb  and  resume  a 
subject  position  under  their  old  masters.  Artabanus 
seems  to  have  died  in  August  or  September  a.d.  42,^ 
the  year  after  the  death  of  Caligula.  His  chequered 
reign  had  covered  a  space  which  cannot  have  fallen 
much  short  of  thirty  years. 


*  This  date  is  earlier  than  that 
generally  assigned,  which  is  a.d.  44 
(Heeren,  J^annal,  p.  303,  E.  T.  ; 
Lewis,  History  of  the  Parthian 
Empire,  p.  231 ;  Vaillant,  Arsac.  Im- 
peritim,  p.  220).     But  it  is  rendered 


certain  hj  the  coins,  which  have  for 
the  last  year  of  Artabanus  the  date 
TNT  Auinv  f  =  Aug.  A.D.  42),  and  for 
the  first  of  Vardanes  FNT  T«pwiai. 
(=September  of  the  same  year). 


CII.    XV.]      SUCCESSOR  OF  ARTABANUS  lU.,  DOUBTFUL.       249 


CHAPTER  XV. 

DonUs  as  to  the  successor  of  Artahanus  III.  First  short  reign  of  Gotar- 
zes.  Re  is  expelled,  and  Vardanes  made  King.  Beign  of  Vardanes. 
His  war  with  hates.  His  death.  Second  reign  of  Ootarzes.  His 
Contest  with  his  Nepliew,  Meherdates.  His  Death.  Short  and  inglorious 
reign  of  Vonones  II. 

'TurbatiE  Parthorum  res,  inter  ambigiios,  quis  in  regnum  acciperetur.' 

Tacit.  Ann.  xi.  10. 

There  is  considerable  doubt  as  to  the  immediate  suc- 
cessor of  Artabanus.  Accoi'ding  to  Josepbus/  be  left 
his  kingdom  to  his  son,  Bardanes  or  Vardanes,  and  this 
prince  entered  without  difficulty  and  at  once  upon  the 
enjoyment  of  his  sovereignty.  According  to  Tacitus,^ 
the  person  who  oljtained  the  throne  directly  upon  the 
death  of  Artabanus  was  his  son,  Gotarzes,  who  was 
generally  accepted  for  king,  and  might  have  reigned 
without  having  his  title  disputed,  had  he  not  given  in- 
dications of  a  harsh  and  cruel  temper.  Among  other 
atrocities  whereof  he  was  guilty,  was  the  murder  of  his 
brother,  Artabanus,^  whom  he  put  to  death,  togetlier 
with  his  wife  and  son,  apparently  upon  mere  suspicion. 
This  bloody  initiation  of  his  reign  spread  alarm  among 


'  Ant.  Jiid.  XX.  3,  §  4.  Tr}v  (iaai-  ]  '  Some  suppose  the  Artahanus 
'Keinv  Tut  naidl  OvapdavT/  KaraXiiruv.         j  intended  to  be  Artabanus  III.,    the 

^  Ann.  xi.  8.  The  true  meaning  preceding  king ;  but  he  was  the 
of  Tacitus  in  the  passage  has  been  father,  not  the  brother,  of  Gotarze-. 
questioned  (see  Walther's  Tacitus,  (See  Joseph.  ^l»f.  J;/'/.  1.  s.  c,  where 
note  'td  lac.)  ;  but,  for  my  own  part,  Vardanes  is  called  the  son  of  Arta- 
I  cannot  feel  a  douht  that  he  regards  banus  III.,  and  Gotarzes  the  brother 
Gotarzes  as  king  before  Vardanes.       of  Vardanes.) 


250 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.    XV. 


the  nobles,  who  thereupon  determined  to  exert  their 
constitutional  privilege  of  deposing  an  obnoxious 
monarch  and  supplying  his  place  with  a  new  one. 
Their  choice  fell  upon  Vardanes,  brother  of  (iotarzes, 
who  was  residing  in  a  distant  province,  850  miles  from 
the  Court.  Having  entered  into  communications  with 
this  prince,  they  easily  induced  him  to  quit  his  retire- 
ment, and  to  take  up  arms  against  the  tyrant.  Var- 
danes was  ambitious,  bold,  and  prompt :  he  had  no 
sooner  received  the  invitation  of  the  Mesfistanes  than 
he  set  out,  and  having  accomplished  his  journey  to  the 
Court  in  the  sj)ace  of  two  days,^  found  Gotarzes 
wholly  unprepared  to  ofPer  resistance.  Thus  Vardanes 
became  king  without  fighting  a 
battle.  Gotarzes  fled,  and  escaped 
into  the  country  of  the  Dahse, 
which  lay  east  of  the  Caspian  Sea, 
and  north  of  the  Parthian  pro- 
vince of  Ilyrcania.  Here  he  was 
allowed  to  remain  for  some  time 
unmolested  by  his  brother,  and  to 
form  plans  and  make  ^^reparations  for  the  recovery 
of  his  lost  power. 

The  statements  of  Tacitus  are  so  circumstantial,  and 
his  authority  as  an  historian  is  so  great,  that  we  can 
scarcely  hesitate  to  accept  the  history  as  he  delivei-s  it, 
rather  than  as  it  is  related  by  the  Jewish  writer.  It  is, 
however,  remarkable  that  the  series  of  Parthian  coins 
presents  an  appearance  of  accordance  rather  with  the 


COIN   OP  VARDANES  I. 


*  The  possibility  of  (his  feat  has 
been  questioned,  and  it  has  been 
])roposed  to  alter  the  text  of  Tadtus 
from  '  l)iduo  tria  M.  passuuni '  to 
'  triduo  duo  M.  passuum '  (see 
Walther's    Tacitns^    vol.   ii,    p.    18J. 


But  the  feat  of  Vardanes  does  not 
come  up  to  that  of  Tiberius,  who 
travelled  m  one  ni;j:ht  and  day  200 
Koman  (or  184  British)  miles  to  visit 
his  sick  brother,  f3rusus(Plin.  //.  iV., 
vii.  20j. 


CH.  XV.] 


EEIGN    OF    VARDANES    I. 


251 


latter  than  the  former,  since  it  aifords  no  trace  of  the 
supposed  first  reign  of  Gotarzes  in  a.d,  42,  while  it  shows 
Vardanes  to  have  held  the  throne  from  Sept.  a.d.  42  to 
at  least  a.d.  46.^  Still,  this  does  not  absolutely  con- 
tradict Tacitus.  It  only  proves  that  the  first  reign  of 
Gotarzes  w^as  comprised  within  a  few  weeks,  and  that 
before  two  months  had  passed  fi-om  the  death  of  Arta- 
bauus,  the  kingdom  was  established  in  the  hands  of 
Vai'danes.  That  prince,  after  the  flight  of  his  brother, 
ap^^lied  himself  for  some  time  to  the  reduction  of  the 
Seleuciaus,^  whose  continued  independence  in  the 
]nidst  of  a  Parthian  province  he  regai'ded  as  a  disgrace 
to  the  Empire.  His  efforts  to  take  the  tow^n  failed, 
however,  of  success.  Being  abundantly  provisioned 
and  strongly  fortified,  it  was  well  able  to  stand  a  siege ; 
and  the  high  spirit  of  its  inhabitants  made  them  deter- 
mine to  resist  to  the  uttermost.  While  they  still  held 
out,  Vardanes  was  called  away  to  the  East,  whei'e  his 
brother  had  been  gathering  strength,  and  was  once 
more  advancing  his  pretensions.  The  Hyrcanians,  as 
well  as  the  Dahae,  had  embraced  his  cause,  and  Parthia 
was  threatened  with  dismemberment.  Vardanes,  havino: 
collected  his  troops,  occupied  a  position  in  the  plain  re- 
gion of  Bactria,^  and  there  prepared  to  give  battle  to 
his  brother,  who  was  likewise  at  the  head  of  a  con- 
sideral^le  army.  Before,  however,  an  engagement  took 
place,  Gotarzes  discovered  that  there  w^as  a  design 
among  the  nobles  on  either  side  to  rid  themselves  of 
both  the  brothers,  and  to  set  up  a  wholly  new  king. 
Apprehensive   of  the  consequences,  he  communicated 


•  Coins  of  a  uniform  type,  differ- 
ing altogether  from  tliose  of  Gotarzes, 
and  reasonabl}' ascribed  toVardane?, 
bear  the  dates  TNT,  SNT,  ENT    SNT 


and  ZNT,  or  a.d.  42,  43, 44,45,  .and  4G. 

''  Tacit.  Ann.  xi.  8. 

'   '  Bactrianos       apiid      campus.' 
Tacit.  1.  s.  c. 


252 


THE   SIXTH    MONAKCHY. 


[cii.  XV. 


Ms  discovery  to  Vardanes  ;  and  tlie  result  was  that  the 
two  brothers  made  up  their  differences  and  agreed 
upon  terms  of  peace.  Gotarzes  yielded  his  claim  to 
the  crown,  and  was  assigned  a  residence  in  Hyrcania, 
which  was,  probably,  made  over  to  his  government. 
Vardanes  then  returned  to  the  west,  and  resumino-  the 
siege  of  Seleucia,  compelled  the  rebel  city  to  a  sur- 
render in  the  seventh  year  after  it  had  revolted 
(a.d.  46).^ 

Successful  thus  far,  and  regarding  his  quarrel  with 
his  brother  as  finally  arranged,  Vardanes  proceeded  to 
contemplate  a  military  expedition  of  the  highest  im- 
portance. The  time,  he  thought,  ^vas  favourable  for 
reviving  the  Parthian  claim  to  Armenia,^  and  dis- 
puting once  more  with  Rome  the  possession  of  a  para- 
mount influence  over  that  country.  The  Roman 
government  of  the  dependency,  since  Artabanus  for- 
mally relinquished  it  to  them,  had  been  far  from 
proving  satisfactory.  Mithridates,  their  protege,^  had 
displeased  them,  and  had  been  summoned  to  Rome  by 
Caligula,'*  who  kept  him  there  a  prisoner  until  his 
death.^  Armenia,  left  without  a  king,  had  asserted 
her  independence.;  and  when,  after  an  al^sence  of 
several  years,  Mithridates  was  authorised  by  Claudius" 
to  return  to  his  kingdom,  the  natives  resisted  him  in 
arms,  and  were  only  brought  under  his  rule  by  the 
combined  help  of  the  Romans  and  the  I])erians.  Forced 
upon  a  reluctant  people  by  foreign  arms,  Mithridates 
felt  himself  insecure,  and  this  feeling  made  him  rule 


'  Tacit.  Ann.  xi.  9. 

^  Compare  Tac.  Ann.  xl.  10  with 
Joseph.  Aht.  Jud.  xx.  3,  §  4.  'J'he 
intended  'Roman  War'  of  the  latter 
writer  is  the  projected  'Armenian 
expedition  '  of  the  former. 


'  See  above,  pp.  231,  332. 

*  Dio  Cass.  Ix.   8;   Tac.  Aiui.  xi. 


'  Dio   Cass.    1.   s.  c. 

Tran  quill.  §  11. 


Senec.   De 


CH.  XV.]  HIS    QUARREL    WITH    IZATES, 


253 


his  subjects  with  imprudent  severity.^  Under  these 
circumstances,  it  seemed  to  Vardaues  that  it  would  not 
be  very  diiiicult  to  recover  Armenia,  and  thus  gain  a 
signal  triumph  over  the  Romans. 

But  to  engage  in  so  great  a  matter  with  a  good 
prospect  of  success,  it  was  necessary  that  the  war 
should  be  aj^tproved,  not  only  by  himself,  but  by  his 
principal  feudatories.^  The  most  important  of  these 
was  now  Izates,  king  of  Adiabene  and  Gordyene,^  who 
in  the  last  reign  had  restored  Artabanus  to  his  lost 
throne.'*  Vardanes,  before  committing  himself  by  any 
overt  act,  appears  to  have  taken  this  prince  into  his 
counsels,  and  to  have  requested  his  opinion  on  the 
pi'udence  of  affronting  the  Romans  by  an  interfei*ence 
with  xVrmenian  affairs.  Izates  strenuously  opposed  the 
project.  He  had  a  personal  interest  in  the  matter, 
since  he  had  sent  five  of  his  l)oys  to  Rome,  to  receive 
there  a  polite  education,  and  he  had  also  a  profound 
respect  for  the  Roman  power  and  military  system.  He 
endeavoured,  both  by  persuasion  and  reasoning,  to 
induce  Vardanes  to  aT)andon  his  design.  His  argu- 
ments may  have  been  cogent,  but  they  were  not 
thought  by  Vardanes  to  have  much  force,  and  the 
result  of  the  conference  was,  that  the  Great  Kiufr  de- 
clared  war  against  his  feudatory.^ 

The  war  had,  apparently,  but  just  begun,  wdien 
fresh  troubles  broke  out  in  the  north-east.      Gotarzes 


'Cuncta  in  Mithridatem  flux- 
ere,  atrocwrem  quam  now  regno 
conduceret  '  (Tacit.  Ann.  xi.  9). 

^  A  Parthian  king  could,  no 
doubt,  conimanil  the  sirvices  of  his 
feudatories ;  but  it  depi-nded  very 
iiuich  upon  themselves  what  forces 
they  should  bring  into  the  field. 
To    obtain    any   real    success,     the 


hearty  co-operation  of  the  feuda- 
tories was  necessary. 

'  Artabanus  rewarded  Izates  by 
adding  this  tract  to  his  dominions. 
(Joseph.  A.  J.  XX.  3,  §  8.j 

*  See  above,  p.  247. 

^  Jo.seph.    Ant.   Jud.    xx.    3,   §  4. 

Compare   the   remark  of  Tacitus — 


254 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.  XV. 


had  never  ceased  to  resrret  Lis    renunciation    of   liis 

o 

claims,  and  was  now,  on  the  invitation  of  the  Parthian 
nobility,  prejjared  to  come  forward  again  and  contest 
the  kingdom  with  his  brother.  Vardanes  had  to 
relinquish  his  attempt  to  coerce  Izates,  and  to  hasten 
to  Ilyrcania  in  order  to  engage  the  troops  which 
Gotarzes  had  collected  in  that  distant  region.  These 
he  met  and  defeated  more  than  once  in  the  country 
between  the  Caspian  and  Plerat  ;^  but  the  success  of 
his  military  operations  failed  to  strengthen  his  hold 
upon  the  affections  of  his  subjects.  Like  the  generality 
of  the  Parthian  princes,  he  showed  himself  harsh  and 
cruel  in  the  hour  of  victory,  and  in  con(j[uering  an  op- 
position roused  an  opposition  that  was  fiercer  and  more 
formidable.  A  conspiracy  was  formed  against  him 
shortly  after  his  return  from  Ilyrcania,  and  he  was 
assassinated  while  indulging  in  the  national  amusement 
of  the  chase.^ 

The  murder  of  Vardanes  was  immediately  followed 
by  the  restoration  of  Gotarzes  to  the  throne.  There 
may  have  been  some  who  doubted  his  fitness  for  the 
regal  oflice,^  and  inclined  to  keep  the  throne  vacant 
till  they  could  send  to  Rome  and  ol)tain  from  thence 
one  of  the  younger  and  more  civilised  Parthian  pi'inces. 
But  we  may  be  sure  that  the  general  desire  was  not  for 
a  Romanised  sovereign,  but  for  a  ti'uly  national  king, 
one  born  and  bi'ed  in  the  country.      Gotarzes  was  pro- 


'Exin  v;ili(lissimas  jmefecturas  in- 
vasit '  {Anv.  xi.  10). 

'  I  cannot  follow  this  campaign 
in  detail,  as  the  rivers  'Kirinde' 
and  '  Sinde,'  mentioned  hy  Tacitus, 
are  unknown  to  the  geographers. 

'■'  Tacit.  Aim.  xi.  10.  Josephus 
give-;  no  details,  but  says  simply 
uvaijiovai  (ivtov. 


=  So  Tacitus  (1.  s.  c).  '  Nece  Bar- 
danis  turbatie  Parthorum  res,  inter 
ainbiguos,  quis  in  regnuni  aecipe- 
retur.  Multi  ad  (iotarzem  inelina- 
bant  ;  quidam  ad  Meherdat-'ni,  pro- 
Il'Iu  I'iiraalis.'  But  it  ma}'  be  doubt- 
ed whether  Meherdates  wa<  tliought 
of,  until  (Jotarzcs  had  rendered 
himself  obnoxious  to  his  subjects. 


CII.  XV.]  HIS  DEATH ACCESSIOIT  OF  GOTAKZES.  255 

claimed  by  common  consent,  and  without  any  interval, 
after  the  death  of  Vardanes,  and  ascended  the  Parthian 
throne  "before  the  end  of  the  year  a.d.  46.^  It  is  not 
likely  that  his  rule  would  have  been  resisted  had  he 
conducted  himself  well ;  but  the  ci'uelty  of  his  temper, 
which  had  already  once  cost  him  his  crown,  again  dis- 
played itself  after  his  restoration,  and  to  this  defect  was 
added  a  slothful  indulgence  yet  more  distasteful  to  his 
subjects.^  Some  military  expeditions  which  he  under- 
took, moreover,  failed  of  success,  and  the  crime  of 
defeat  ca-used  the  cup  of  his  offences  to  brim  over. 
The  discontentod  portion  of  his  people,  who  were  a 
strong  party,  sent  envoys  to  the  Roman  Emperor, 
Claudius  (a.d.  49),  and  begged  that  he  would  surrender 
to  them  Meherdates,  the  grandson  of  Phraates  IV.  and 
son  of  Vonones,  who  still  remained  at  Rome  in  a  posi- 
tion between  that  of  a  guest  and  a  hostage.  '  They 
were  not  ignorant,'  they  said,  '  of  the  treaty  which 
Ijound  the  Romans  to  Parthia,  nor  did  they  ask 
Claudius  to  infringe  it.  Their  desire  was  not  to  throw 
off  the  authority  of  the  Arsacidse,  but  only  to  exchange 
one  Arsacid  for  another.  The  rule  of  Gotarzes  had 
become  intolerable,  alike  to  the  nobility  and  the 
common  people.  He  had  murdered  all  his  male  rela- 
tives, or  at  least  all  that  were  within  his  reach — first 
his  brothers,  then  his  near  kinsmen,  finally  even  those 
whose  relationship  was  remote  ;  nor  had  he  stopped 
there  ;  he  had  proceeded  to  put  to  death  their  young 
children  and  their  pregnant  wives.  He  was  sluggish 
in  his  habits,  unfortunate  in  his  wars,  and  had  betaken 


'  Coins    of    Vardanes    bear     the  ....  ]>er   smvitium   ac    luxiivi    ade- 

dale  ZXT,  or  A.P.  45-46.      A  coin  of  g:it   Pa'thos    mittere    ad    Principem 

(jotarzes  is  dated  ZNT,   liaveixov.   or  Ronianum   occultas   preces.'     Oom- 

July.  .\.D.  46.  pare  the  expression   '  socors  domi,' 

^ 'J'acit.   Ann.  xi.    10:    'Gotarzes  '\n  Ann.  xii.  10. 


256  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    XV. 

himself  to  cruelty,  tliat  men  might  not  despise  him  for 
his  want  of  manliness.  The  friendship  between  Eome 
and  Parthia  was  a  public  matter ;  it  bound  the  llomans 
to  help  the  nation  allied  to  them — a  nation  which, 
though  equal  to  them  in  strength,  was  content  on 
account  of  its  respect  for  Rome  to  yield  her  prece- 
dence. Parthian  princes  were  allowed  to  be  hostages 
in  foreign  lands  for  the  very  reason  that  then  it  was 
always  possible,  if  their  own  monarch  disi)leased  them, 
for  the  people  to  obtain  a  king  from  abroad,  brought 
up  under  milder  influences.''  ^ 

This  harangue  was  made  before  the  Emperor  Claudius 
and  the  assembled  Senate,  Meherdates  himself  being 
also  present.  Claudius  responded  to  it  favourabl3^ 
'  He  would  follow  the  example  of  the  Divine  Augustus, 
and  allow  the  Parthians  to  take  from  Pome  the  monarch 
whom  they  requested.  That  prince,  bred  up  in  the 
city,  had  always  been  remarkable  for  his  moderation. 
He  would  (it  was  to  be  hoped)  regard  himself  in  his 
new  position,  not  as  a  master  of  slaves,  but  as  a  ruler 
of  citizens.  He  would  find  that  clemency  and  justice 
were  the  more  appreciated  by  a  bar])arous  nation,  the 
less  they  had  had  experience  of  them.  Meherdates 
might  accompany  the  Partliian  envoys  ;  and  a  Poman 
of  rank,  Caius  Cassius,  the  prefect  of  Syria,  should  be 
instructed  to  receive  them  on  their  ari'ivfd  in  Asia, 
and  to  see  them  safely  across  the  Euphrates.'^ 

The  young  prince  accordingly  set  out,  and  reached 
the  city  of  Zeugma  in  safety.  Here  he  w'as  joined,  not 
only  by  a  number  of  the  Parthian  nobles,  but  also  by 
the  reigning  king  of  Osrhoene,  who  bore  the   usual 


'  This  speech  is  given  by   Tacitus  l  He  adds  that  the  envoys  said  more 
witlihis  usual  brevity  {Ann.  xii.  10).  I  to  the  same  ellect.       '•'  Ibid.  xii.  11. 


CH.  XV.]  GOTAUZES    AND    MEHERDATES.  257 

name  of  Abganis.^  The  Partliians  were  anxious  that 
he  should  advance  at  his  best  speed  and  by  the  shortest 
route  on  Ctesij^hon,  and  the  Roman  governor,  Cassius, 
strongly  advised  the  same  course  ;  but  Meherdates  fell 
under  the  influence  of  the  Osrhoene  monarch,  who  is 
thought  V)y  Tacitus  to  have  been  a  false  friend,  and  to 
Lave  determined  from  the  first  to  do  his  best  for 
Gotarzes.  Abgarus  induced  Meherdates  to  proceed 
from  Zeugma  to  his  own  capital,  Edessa,  and  there  de- 
tained him  for  several  days  by  means  of  a  series  of 
festivities.  He  then  persuaded  him,  though  the  winter 
was  approaching,  to  enter  Armenia,  and  to  proceed 
against  his  antagonist  by  the  circuitous  route  of  the 
Upper  Tigris,  instead  of  the  more  direct  one  through 
Mesopotamia.  In  this  way  much  valuable  time  was 
lost.  The  rou<2:h  mountain-routes  and  snows  of  Armenia 
harassed  and  fatigued  the  pretender's  troops,  while 
Gotarzes  was  given  an  intei'val  during  which  to  collect 
a  tolerably  large  body  of  soldiers.  Still,  the  delay  was 
not  very  gi'eat.  Meherdates  marched  probably  by 
Diarbekr,  Til,  and  Jezireh,  or,  in  other  words,  followed 
the  coui'se  of  the  Tio-ris,  which  he  crossed  in  theneio-h- 
bourhood  of  Mosul,  after  taking  the  small  town  which 
represented  the  ancient  Nineveli.  His  line  of  march 
had  now  brouo-ht  him  into  Adiabene  ;  and  it  seemed  a 
good  omen  for  the  success  of  his  cause  that  Izates,  the 
powerful  monarch  of  that  tract,  declared  in  his  favour, 
and  brought  a  body  of  troops  to  his  assistance.^  Go- 
tarzes was  in  the  neighbourhood,  but  was  distrustful 
of  his  strength,  and  desirous  of  collecting  a  larger  force 
before  committino;  himself  to  the  hazaixl  of  an  ens^aaie- 
ment.     He  had  taken  up  a  strong  position  with  the 


'  See  above,  pp.  151,  157,  162-164    |      ^  Tacit.  Ann.  xii.  13. 


258  THE    SIXTH    MONAECHY.  [cH.  XV. 

river  Corma  in  his  front/  and  remaining  on  tlie  defen- 
sive, contented  liimself  with  trying  by  his  emissaries 
the  fidelity  of  his  rival's  troops  and  allies.  The  plan 
succeeded.  After  a  little  time,  the  army  of  Meherdates 
began  to  melt  away.  Izates  of  Adiabene  and  Abgarus 
of  Edessa  drew  off  their  contingents,  and  left  the  pre- 
tender to  depend  wholly  on  his  Parthian  supporters. 
Even  their  fidelity  was  doubtful,  and  might  have  given 
w^ay  on  further  trial ;  Meherdates  therefore  resolved, 
before  being  wdiolly  deserted,  to  try  the  chance  of  a 
battle.  His  adversary  was  now  as  willing  to  engage 
as  himself,  since  he  felt  that  he  was  no  longer  out- 
numbered. The  rivals  met,  and  a  fierce  and  bloody 
action  was  fought  between  the  two  armies,  no  impor- 
tant advantage  being  for  a  long  time  gained  by  either. 
At  length  Cari'henes,  the  chief  general  on  the  side  of 
Meherdates,  having  routed  the  troops  opposed  to  him 
and  pursued  them  too  hotly,  was  intercepted  by  the 
enemy  on  his  return  and  either  killed  or  made  prisoner. 
This  event  proved  decisive.  The  loss  of  their  leader 
caused  the  army  of  Meherdates  to  fly  ;  and  he  himself, 
being  induced  to  entrust  his  safety  to  a  certain  Parrhaces, 


'  The  notices  of  Tacitus  do  not  bulnh,  between  the  plains  of  Ghilan 
enable  us  to  follow  with  any  exact-  and  Deira,  in  lat.  34°  25',  long.  4G° 
ness  ihe  movements  of  Gotarzes  ;  ,  10'  nearly.  This  is  a  '  very  remark- 
but  I  think  there  cannut  be  a  doubt  able  range,  f;ir  exceeding  in  height 
that  he  was  protecting  Ctesiphon,  all  others  at  tiie  foot  of  Zagios' 
and  that  the  scene  i)f  his  manoeuvres  j  (Jw;</viaZ  of  Geograjih.  Society^  vol. 
and  of  the  final  en;j;agement  was  ix.  p.  41).  On  the  summit  is  'a 
the  tract  south  of  Nineveh,  be- 1  fine  table-land,  wooded  with  dwarf 
tvveen  the  Tigris  and  the  Zagros'oak,'  wliile  the  sides  are  in  most 
mountain  range.  If  the  reading  j  places  bounded  hy  'naked  and  pre- 
'Arbela'  be  allowed  to  stand  in  j  cipitous  crags  like  those  of  Behis- 
Ann.  xii.  13,  we  may  limit  the '  tun '  (ibid.  p.  12).  But  the  second 
scene  of  action  a  little  more,  and  [  position  of  Gotarzes,  behind  the  river 
say  that  it  lay  between  Avhil  and  Cornia,  cannot  be  identified,  since 
B.ighdad.  Sambulos,  the  moiuitain  i  there  are  scarcely  sufficient  grounds 
which  Gotarzes  at  first  occupie'i,  is  .  for  regarding  tliat  stream  as  the 
probably    the    modern    Mount  Sun-  i  Kara-!Sii,  or  river  of  Kinnanshah. 


CH. 


XV.] 


ROCK    SCULPTURE   OF    GOTARZES. 


259 


a  dependant  of  his  father  s,  was  betrayed  by  this  mis- 
creant, loaded  with  chains,  and  given  up  to  his  rival. 
Gotarzes  now  proved  less  unmerciful  than  might  have 
been  expected  from  his  general  character.  Instead  of 
punishing  Meherdates  with  death,  he  thought  it  suffi- 
cient to  insult  him  with  the  names  of  '  foreigner '  and 
'  Roman,'  and  to  render  it  impossible  that  he  should 
be  again  put  forward  as  monarch  by  subjecting  him  to 
mutilation.^  The  Roman  historian  supposes  that  this 
was  done  to  cast  a  slur  upon  Rome ;  ^  but  it  ^vas  a 
natural  measure  of  precaution  under  the  circumstances, 
and  had  probably  no  more  recondite  motive  than  com- 
passion for  the  youth  and  inexperience  of  the  pre- 
tender. 

Gotarzes,  having  triumphed  over  his  rival,  appears 
to  have  resolved  on  commemorating  his  victor}^  in  a 
novel  manner.  Instead  of  striking  a  new  coin,  like 
Vonones,^  he  determined  to  place  his  achievement  on 
record  by  making  it  the  suljject  of  a  rock-tal>let,  which 
he  caused  to  be  em^raved  on  the  sacred  mountain  of 
Baghistan,  adorned  already  with  sculptures  and  inscrip- 
tions by  the  greatest  of  the  Achaemenian  monarchs. 
The  bas-relief  and  its  inscription  have  been  much 
damaged,  both  by  the  waste  of  ages  and  the  rude  hand 
of  man;  but  enough  remains  to  show  that  the  con- 
queror was  represented  as  pursuing  his  enemies  in  the 
field,  on  horseback,  while  a  winged  Victory,  flying  in 
the  air,  was  on  the  point  of  placing  a  diadem  on  his 
head.*     In  the  Greek  legend  which  accompanied  the 


'In  the  East,  mutilation  of  any 
kind  is  regarded  as  incapacitating  a 
man  from  the  exercise  of  sove- 
reignty. Hence  the  Pursan  kings 
were  in  the  habit,  until  recently,  of 
blinding  all  their  brothers  upon 
their  accession. 


'  Tacit.  Ann.  xii.  14.  '  Ostentui 
clementise  suae,  et  in  nos  dehonesta- 
mento.'' 

=  See  above,  p.  223. 

*  Flandin,  Voyage  en  Pei-se,  p.  8. 
'On  }'  rcconnatt  neanmoins  les  sil- 
houettes   de   plusieurs  personnages 


260 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.  XV. 


sculpture,  he  was  termed  '  Satrap  of  Satraps ' — an 
equivalent  of  the  ordinary  title  '  King  of  Kings ' ;  and 
his  conquered  rival  was  mentioned  under  the  name  of 
Mithrates,  a  corrupt  form  of  the  more  common 
Mithri dates,  or  Meherdates.^ 

Very  shortly  after  his  victory,  Gotarzes  died.  His 
last  year  seems  to  have  been  a.d.  51.^  According  to 
Tacitus,  he  died  a  natural  death,  from  the  effects  of 
disease  ;  ^  but,  according  to  Josephus,  he  was  the  victim 
of  a  conspiracy.^  The  autliority  of  Tacitus,  here  as 
elsewhere  generally,  is  to  be  preferred ;  and  we  may 
regard  Gotarzes  as  ending  peacefully  his  unquiet  reign, 
which  had  begun  in  a.d.  42,  immediately  after  the 
death  of  his  father,  had  been  interrupted  for  four  years 
— from  A.D.  42  to  a.d.  46 — and  had  then  been  rene^ved 
and  lasted  from  a.d.  46  to  a.d.  51.  Gotarzes  was  not 
a  prince  of  any  remarkable  talents,  or  of  a  character 
ditferiug  in  any  important  respects  from  the  ordinary 


de  haute  taille,  surmontes  d'autres 
plus  petits,  panni  lesquels  se  dis- 
tinguent  un  cavalier  arme  d'une 
lance,  et  une  esptce  de  gloire  on  de 
renomniee  couionnant  uii  autre 
guerier  a  cheval.' 

'  Some  account  of  tins  inscription 
lias  been  given  by  Sir  R.  K.  Porter 
(Trarch,  vol.  ii.  p.  151),  by  Sir  H. 
RawlinsDii  (^Utogrnph.  Jouriud^  vol. 
ix.  p.  1 15),  and  by  MM.  Flandin 
and  Co.ste  (  Voyageen  Per»e^  Planches 
anciennes,  |il.  119).  The  liest  ac- 
C'lunt  is  that  of  the  second-named 
traveller,  who  transcribed  the  in- 
scription as  follows  : — AA*A2ATU2 
MlOPATililllKII  .  .  .  rWTAPZHC 
i;ATPAlIl[2Ti2NSATPAnQN  .  .  .  . 
IIj  also  rea<i  in  a  corner  of  the 
tablet  the  words  FflTAPSHC  TEO 
noOPOS.  It  has  been  argued  that 
the  inscription  cannot  have  b  >en 
set   up    by    A7//y   Gotarzes,    on  ac- 


count of  the  title  'Satiap  of  Sa- 
traps '  ;  but  this  argument  is  not 
convincing.  (See  above,  ch.  vi.  p. 
88,  note  ^.)  The  combination  of 
the  names  Gotarzes  and  Melier- 
dates  (Mithrates)  with  the  locality, 
certainly  near  the  scene  of  the 
battle,  and  the  winged  Victory, 
common  on  P.irthian  coins  at  ex- 
actly this  time,  is  a  far  more 
weighty  one  in  liivour  of  the  in- 
scription being  rightly  assigned  to 
the  monarch. 

-■  A  coin  of  Gotarzes  bears  the 
date  n2T,  or  a.d.  50-51.  One  of 
Vononcs  II.  has  TST,  or  a.d.  51- 
53. 

'  '  Dein  Gotarzes  morho  obiit' 
{Ann.  xii.  14). 

■*  Joseph.  Ant.  Jud.  xx.  3,  §  4. 
Mtr'  ov  noAvv  xpovov  k^  k  n  i  ^  o  v  i.)/  i 
TEAevT7]aavTa, 


CH.  XV.]         Ills    DEATH — ^REIGISr    OF    VONONES   U.  261 

Parthian  type.  lie  was  perhaps  even  more  cruel  than 
the  bulk  of  the  Arsacidte,  though  his  treatment  of 
Meherdates  showed  that  he  could  be  lenient  upon  oc- 
casion. He  was  more  prudent  than  dailng,  more 
politic  than  brave,  more  bent  on  maintaining  his  own 
position  than  on  advancing  the  power  or  dignity  of  his 
country.  Parthia  owed  little  or  nothing  to  him.  The 
internal  organisation  of  the  country  must  have  suffered 
from  his  long  wars  with  his  lu'other  and  his  nephew ; 
its  external  reputation  was  not  increased  by  one  whose 
foreign  expeditions  were  uniformly  unfoi-tunate. 

The  successor  of  Gotarzes  was  a  cei'tain  Vonones. 
His  relationship  to  j^revious  monarchs  is  doubtful — and 
may  be  suspected  to  have  been  i*emote.^  Gotarzes 
had  murdered  or  mutilated  all  the  Arsacidag  on  whom 
he  could  lay  his  hands  ;  and  the  Partliians  had  to  send 
to  Media  ^  upon  his  decease  in  order  to  obtain  a 
sovereign  of  the  required  blood.  The  coins  of 
Vonones  II.  are  scarce,  and  have  a  peculiar  rudeness. 
The  only  date  ^  found  upon  them  is  one  equivalent  to 
A.D.  51-52  ;  and  it  would  seem  that  his  entire  reign 
was  comprised  within  the  space  of  a  few  months. 
Tacitus  tells  us  that  his  rule  was  brief  and  ino-lorious, 
marked  by  no  important  events,  either  pi'osperous  or 
adverse.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Volagases  I., 
who  appears  to  have  ascended  the  throne  befoi'e  the 
year  a.d.  51  had  expured."* 

'  Philostratus  is  quoted  as  calling  '  '  The  date  in  question  is  THT, 
him  '  the  younger  brother  of  Arta- ',  which  corresponds  to  the  last  three 
baniis  III.'  (Lindsay,  History  and  months  of  a.d.  51  and  the  first  nine 
Coinage,   p.   70.)  '  But  the  authority    of  a.d.   52. 

of   Philostratus    on  a   point  of  this        ■*  This  appears  from  Tacitus  (^-l/m. 
kind  is  worthless.  xii,  44  and  50). 

^  Tacit.  Ann.  1.  s.  c. 


262  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  XT  I. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Reign  of  Volagasis  1.  His  first  attempt  on  Armenia  fails.  His  quarrel 
with  hates.  Invasion  of  Parthia  Proper  hy  the  Dahce  and  Sacm. 
Second  attack  of  Volagases  on  Armenia.  Tiridates  established  as  King. 
First  expedition  of  Corhulo.  Half  Siihnission  of  Volagases.  Rewlt 
of  Vardanes.  Second  expedition  of  Oorhulo.  Armenia  given  to 
Tigr-anes.  Remit  of  Hyrcania.  Third  attach  of  Volagases  on  Ar- 
menia. Defeat  of  Pmtns,  and  7'e- establishment  of  Tiridates.  Last 
expedition  of  Cor})nlo,  and  arrangement  of  Terms  of  Peace.  Tiridates 
at  Rome.     Probable  time  of  the  Death  of  Volagases. 

'  Getiti  Parthorum  Vologeses  imperitab.it,  mutenui  origine  ex  pellicje  Grseca.' 

Tac.   Ann.  xii.  44. 

VoNONES  tlie  Second  left  beliind  liim  three  sons,  Vola- 
gases, Tiridates,  and  Pacorus.  It  is  doubtful  which  of 
them  was  the  eldest,  but,  on  the  whole,  most  probable 
that  that  })osition  belonged  to  Pacorus.  We  are  told 
that  Volagases  ol)tained  the  crown  by  his  brothers' 
yielding  up  their  claim  to  ]iim,^  from  which  we  nnist 
draw  the  conclusion  that  both  of  them  were  his  elders. 
These  cii'cumstances  of  his  accession  will  account  for 
much  of  his  subs.^quent  conduct.  It  happened  that 
he  was  able  at  once  to  bestow  a  principality  upon 
Pacorus,^  to  whom  he  felt  specially  indebted  ;  but  in 
order  adecpiately  to  reward  his  other  benefactor,  he 
found  it  necessary  to  conc[uer  a  province  and  then  make 

'  Tacit.  Ann.  xii.  44.     '  Con cc«!su  1  former   tells   u-;   that   Pacorus   was 
fratrum     rez;nuin      adcptus.'      The    older  than  Tiridates 
names  of  the  two  brothers  are  given  '      ■  The  governm-nt  bestowed  on  Pa- 
by  Josephus  {Ant.   Jnd.  xx.  2,  §4),    coriiswas  that  of  Medi.i;  whether  Me- 
and    Dio    Cussius    (Ixiii.    5).     The    dia  Magna  or  Atropatene  is  uncertain. 


CH.  XVI.]  ACCESSIOX    OF    YOLAGASES    I.  263 

its  government  over  to  him.  Hence  his  frequent 
attacks  upon  Armenia,  and  his  numerous  wars  with 
Rome  for  its  possession,  Avhich  led  ultimately  to  an 
arrangement  by  which  the  quiet  enjoyment  of  the  Ar- 
menian throne  was  secured  to  Tiridates. 

The  circumstances  under  which  Volagases  made  his 
first  attack  upon  Armenia  were  the  following,  Pharas- 
manes  of  Iberia,^  whose  l)]'otlier,  Mithridates,  the  Romans 
had  (in  a.d.  47)  replaced  iq^on  the  Ai-menian  throne, 
had  a  son  named  Rhadamistus,  whose  lust  of  power 
was  so  great,  that  to  prevent  his  making  an  attempt  on 
his  own  crown,  Pharasmanes  found  it  necessary  to 
divert  his  thoughts  to  another  quarter.^  Armenia,  he 
suggested,  lay  near,  and  was  a  ])i-ize  worth  winning ; 
Rhadamistus  had  only  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the 
people,  and  then  craftily  remove  his  uncle,  and  he 
would  probably  step  with  ease  into  the  vacant  place. 
The  son  took  the  advice  of  his  father,  and  in  a  little 
time  succeeded  in  getting  Mithridates  into  his  power, 
when  he  ruthlessly  put  him  to  deatli,  together  with  his 
wife  and  children.^  Rhadamistus  then,  supported  by 
his  father,  obtained  the  ol)ject  of  his  aml)ition,  and 
became  king.  It  was  known,  however,  that  a  consi- 
derable number  of  the  Armenians  were  adverse  to  a 
rule  which  had  been  In-ought  about  by  treachery  and 
murder;  and  it  was  suspected  that,  if  an  attack  were 
made  upon  him,  he  would  not  be  supported  with  much 
zeal  by  his  subjects.  This  was  the  condition  of  things 
\vhen  Volagases  ascended  the  Parthian  throne,  and 
found  himself  in  want  of  a  principality  with  which  he 
nught  reward  the  services  of  Tiridates,  his  brother.    It 


'  See  above,  p.  231.  r      '  Tliid.    xii.  47.     Mithridate>;  and 

'  Tacit.  A7in.  1.  s.  c.  I  his    wife,    who    was    the    sister  of 


264  TnE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  XVI. 

at  once  occiHTed  to  Liin  that  a  bappy  chance  presented 
him  witli  au  excellent  opportunity  of  acquiring  Armenia, 
and  lie  accordingly  proceeded,  in  the  very  year  of  his 
accession,  to  make  an  expedition  against  it.^  At  first 
he  carried  all  before  him.  The  Iberian  supporters  of 
Rhadamistus  fled  without  risking  a  battle  ;  his  Arme- 
nian subjects  resisted  weakly ;  Artaxata  and  Tigrano- 
certa  opened  their  gates  ;  and  the  country  generally 
submitted.  Tiridates  enjoyed  his  kingdom  foi'  a  few 
months;  but  a  terrilde  pestilence,  brought  about  by  a 
severe  winter  and  a  want  of  proper  provisions,  deci- 
mated the  Parthian  force  left  in  garrison ;  and 
Volagases  found  himself  obliged,  after  a  short  occupa- 
tion, to  relinquish  liis  conquest.  Rhadamistus  returned, 
and  although  the  Armenians  opposed  him  in  arms, 
contrived  to  re-establish  liimself.  The  Parthians  did 
not  renew  their  efforts,  and  for  three  years — from  a.d. 
51  to  A.D.  54 — Phadamistus  was  left  in  quiet  possession 
of  the  Armenian  kinc^dom.^ 

It  appears  to  have  been  in  this  interval  that  the  arms 
of  Volaoases  were  directed  a^iinst  one  of  his  c-reatfeu- 
datories,  Izates.  As  in  Europe  during  the  prevalence 
of  the  feudal  system,  so  under  the  Parthian  government, 
it  was  always  possible  that  the  sovereign  might  be 
forced  to  contend  with  one  of  the  princes  who  owed 
liim  fealty.  Volagases  seems  to  have  thouglit  that  the 
position  of  the  Adiabenian  monarch  was  becoming  too 
independc^nt,  and  that  it  was  necessary  to  recall  him, 
by  a  shai'p  mandate,  to  his  proper  position  of  subordi- 


Rhadamistus,  were  first  smothered.  |  latter  part  of  A.n.  51,  which  was  the 
The  children  were  then  killetl  for  y^n'  tl'^it  l'«  'jecume  king,  according 
lamen  in    then  patents.  '  to  tin- coins. 

'  Tacit.    Ann.    xii.   50.     The  first        -  Compare    Tacit.    A/m.    xii.    50, 
invasion  of  Volaga.scs  falls  into  the  I  51  with  xiii.  0. 


cir.  XVI.] 


HIS    WAR    WITH    IZATES. 


26o 


nate  and  tributary.  Accordingly,  lie  sent  liim  a  demand 
that  he  should  surrender  the  special  privileges  which 
had  1)een  conferred  upon  him  by  Arta])anus  III./  and 
resume  the  ordinary  status  of  a  Parthian  feudatory. 
Izates,  who  feared  that  if  he  yielded  he  would  find  that 
this  demand  was  only  a  prelude  to  others  moi-e  intoler- 
able, replied  by  a  positive  refusal,  and  immedhitely 
prepared  to  resist  an  invasion.  He  sent  his  wives  and 
children  to  the  strongest  fortress  within  his  dominions, 
collected  all  the  grain  that  his  subjects  possessed  into 
fortified  places,  and  laid  waste  the  whole  of  the  open 
country,  so  that  it  should  aft'ord  no  sustenance  to  an 
invading  army.  He  then  took  up  a  position  on  the 
lower  Zab,  or  Caprius,  and  stood  prej^ared  to  resist  an 
attack  upon  his  territory.  Volagases  advanced  to  the 
opposite  bank  of  the  river,  and  was  preparing  to  invade 
Adiabene,  when  news  reached  him  of  an  impoi'tant 
attack  upon  his  eastern  provinces.  A  horde  of  barba- 
rians, consisting  of  Dahie  and  other  Scythians,  had 
poured  into  Parthia  Pro2)er,knowing  that  he  was  engaged 
elsewhere,  and  threatened  to  carry  fire  and  sword 
through  the  entire  province.  The  Parthian  monarch 
considered  that  it  was  his  first  duty  to  meet  these 
aggressors ;  and  leaving  Izates  unchastised,  he  marched 
away  to  the  north-east  to  repel  the  external  enemy.^ 

Volagases,  after  defeating  this  foe,  would  no  doubt 
have  returned  to  Adiabene,  and  resumed  the  war  with 
Izates,  but  in  his  absence  that  prince  died.'^  Monobazus, 
his  brother,  who  inherited  his  crown,  could  have  no 
claim  to  the  privileges  which  had  been  conferred  for 


*  As  Volagases  was  descended 
from  a  branch  of  the  Arsacidte  quite 
distinct  from  tliat  whereto  Artaba- 
nus  liad  bslonged,  there  was  not  the 


'  ingratitude  '  in  this  demand  which 
some  writers  have  seen  in  it. 

^  Joseph.  Ant.  Jud.  xx.  4,  §  2. 

=  Ibid.  §  .3. 


266  THE    SIXTH    JVIONARCHY.  [CH.    XVI. 

personal  services  upon  Izates ;  and  eoii^equently  there 
was  no  necessity  for  the  war  to  ])e  renewed.  The 
bones  of  Izates  were  conveyed  to  the  holy  soil  of  Pales- 
tine and  buried  in  the  vicinity  of  Jerusalem.  Monoba- 
zus  was  accepted  l)y  Volagases  as  his  brother's  successor 
without  any  ajiparent  reluctance,  and  proved  a  fiiithful 
tributary,  on  whom  his  suzerain  could  place  complete 
dependence. 

The  quarrel  with  Izates,  and  the  war  with  the  Dahse 
and  Sacae,  may  have  occupied  the  years  a.d.  52  and  53. 
At  any  rate  it  was  not  till  a.d.  5-1,  his  fourth  year,  that 
Volasrases  resumed  his  desio:ns  asrainst  Armenia.-'  Rha- 
damistus,  though  he  had  more  than  once  had  to  fly  the 
country,  was  found  in  possession  as  king,  and  for  some 
time  he  opposed  the  progress  of  the  Parthian  arms; 
but,  before  the  year  was  out,  despairing  of  success,  he 
again  fled,  and  left  Volagases  to  arrange  the  affairs  of 
Armenia  at  his  pleasure.  Tiridates  was  at  once  estab- 
lished as  king,  and  Armenia  brought  into  the  position 
of  a  regular  Parthian  dependency.  The  claims  of  Rome 
were  ignored.  Volagases  was  probably  aware  that  the 
Imperial  throne  was  occupied  by  a  mere  youth,  not 
eighteen  years  old,  one  destitute  of  all  warlike  tastes,  a 
lover  of  music  and  of  the  arts,  who  might  be  expected 
to  submit  to  the  loss  of  a  remote  province  without  nuich 
difficulty.  He  therefore  acted  as  if  Pome  had  no  rights 
in  this  part  of  Asia,  established  his  brother  at  Artaxata, 
and  did  not  so  much  as  send  an  embassy  to  Nero  to 
excuse  or  explain  his  acts.  These  proceedings  caused 
much  uneasiness  in  Italy.  If  Nero  himself  cannot  be 
regarded  as  likely  to  have  felt  very  keenly  the  blow 
struck  at  the  prestige  of  the  Empire,  yet  there  were 
those  amonsf  his  advisers  who  could  well  understand 

^  Tacit.  Ami,  xiii.  6. 


CII.  XVI.]  YOLAGASES    OCCUPIES    ARMEISTIA. 


267 


and  appreciate  the  situation.  Tlie  ministers  of  the 
young  prince  resolved  that  efforts  on  the  largest  scale 
should  be  made.  Orders  were  at  once  issued  for  re- 
cruitino;  the  Oriental  leo-ions,  and  movino^  them  nearer 
to  Armenia  ;  preparations  were  set  on  foot  for  bridging 
the  Euphrates  ;  Antiochus  of  Commagene,  and  Herod 
Agrippa  IL,  were  re(|uired  to  collect  troo2")s  and  hold 
themselves  in  i-eadiness  to  invade  Parthia ;  the  Roman 
provinces  bordering  upon  Armenia  were  placed  under 
new  governors ;  ^  above  all,  Corbulo,  regarded  as  the 
l)est  general  of  tlie  time,  was  summoned  from  Germany, 
and  assigned  tlie  provinces  of  Cappadocia  and  Galatia, 
together  with  the  general  superintendence  of  the  war 
'for  retaining  possession  of  Armenia.'^  At  the  same 
time  instructions  were  sent  out  to  Ummidius,  proconsul 
of  Syria,  re(piiring  him  to  co-operate  with  Corbulo; 
and  arrano-ements  were  made  to  obviate  the  clash- 
ing  of  authority  which  was  to  be  feared  bet^veen 
two  equal  commanders.  In  the  spring  of  a.d,  55  the 
Roman  armies  were  ready  to  take  the  field,  and  a 
sti'uggle  seemed  impending  which  would  recall  the 
times  of  Antony  and  Phraates. 

But,  at  the  moment  when  expectation  was  at  its 
height,  and  the  clang  of  arms  appeared  about  to  resound 
tliroughout  Western  Asia,  suddenly  a  disposition  for 
peace  manifested  itself.  Both  Corbulo  and  Ummidius 
sent  embassies  to  Volagases,  exhorting  him  to  make 
concessions,  and  apparently  giving  him  to  understand 
that  something  less  was  required  of  him  thaa  the  resto- 


'  The  Lesser  Armenia  was  as- 
signed to  Aristobulus,  a  son  of 
Ilcrod.  king  of  Chalcis,  and  a  first 
coii-in  of  Agrippa  II.  Sophene,  the 
more  southern  portion  of  the  Greater 
Ainienia,  was  entrusted  to  a  certain 
Sohemus.     (Tac.  Ann.  xiii.  7.) 


^  It  is  characteristic  of  Roman 
vanity,  which  could  not  bear  to 
admit  a  loss,  that  Corbulo's  appoint- 
ment was  said  to  be  not  're- 
ciper.ind:P, '  but  *■  retinemhB  Arme- 
nige.'     (Tac.  Ann.  xiii.  8.) 


268 


THE    SIXTH    JVEONAKCHY. 


[CH.  XVL 


ration  of  Armenia  to  tlie  Romans/  Volagases  listened 
favoural)ly  to  tlie  overtures,  and  agreed  to  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  Roman  commanders  the  most  distinguished 
members  of  tlie  royal  family  as  hostages.  At  the  same 
time,  he  withdrew  his  troops  from  Armenia,^  which  the 
Romans,  however,  did  not  occupy,  and  which  continued, 
as  it  would  seem,  to  be  governed  by  Tiridates.  The 
motive  of  the  Parthian  kino-in  actins;  as  he  did  is  obvi- 
ous.  A  revolt  against  his  authority  had  Ijrohen  out  in 
Parthia,  headed  by  his  son,  Vardanes ;  and,  until  this 
intei'nal  trouble  should  be  suppressed,  he  could  not 
eno-a2:e  with  advantao:e  in  a  foreio;n  war.^  The  rea- 
sons  Avdiich  actuated  the  Roman  generals  are  far  more 
obscure.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  their  omission  to 
press  upon  Volagases  in  his  difficulties,  or  their  readi- 
ness to  accept  the  persons  of  a  few  hostages,  however 
high  their  rank,  as  an  equivalent  for  the  Roman  claim 
to  a  province.  Perhaps  the  jealousy  which  subsequently 
showed  itself  in  regard  to  the  custody  of  the  hostages^ 
may  have  previously  existed  betw^een  the  two  com- 
manders, and  they  may  have  each  consented  to  a  peace 
disatlvantao-eous  to  Rome  tlirou2:h  fear  of  the  other's 
obtaining  the  chief  laurels  if  war  were  entered  on. 

The  struggle  for  power  between  Volagases  and  his 
son  Vardanes  seems  to  have  lasted  for  three  years  ^ — 
from  A.D.  55  to  a.d.  58.  Its  details  are  unknown  to 
us ;  but  Volagases  must  have  been  successful ;  and  we 


'  Tacitus  (Ann.  xiii  9)  does  not 
clearly  express  this  ;  but  it  seems 
to  follow  from  his  silence  as  to  any 
recover.y  of  Armenia  in  a.d.  55, 
joine  1  to  his  admission  that  Tiri- 
dates [K)ssessed  the  country  in  a.d, 
58  (ibid.  xiii.  34,  37). 

^  Tac.  A/in.  xiii.  7. 


^  Ibid.  Tacitus  is  confirmed  by 
the  coins,  which  show  that  Varda- 
nes was  proclaimed  at  least  as  early 
as  A.D.  55. 

*  Tac.  Ann.  xiii.  9. 

'  The  coins  ascribed  to  Vardanes 
II.  bear  the  dates  ZET,  HET,  and 
GET,  or  AD.  55,  56,  and  57-58. 


en.  XVI.]  REBELLION    OF    VARDAXES    XL 


269 


COIN  OP   VABDAITES   U. 


may  assume  tbat  the  pretender,  of  whom  we  hear  no 
more,  was  put  to  death.  No  sooner 
was  the  contest  terminated,  than 
VoLao-ases,  feelino;  that  he  was  now 
free  to  act,  took  a  high  tone  in  his 
communications  with  Corbulo  and 
Ummidius,  and  declared  that  not 
only  must  his  brother,  Tiridates, 
be  left  in  the  undisturbed  j^osses- 
sion  of  Armenia,  but  it  must  be  distinctly  understood 
that  he  held  it  as  a  Parthian,  and  not  as  a  Roman, 
feudatory.^  At  the  same  time  Tiridates  l)egan  to  exer- 
cise his  authority  over  the  Armenians  with  severity, 
and  especially  to  persecute  those  whom  he  suspected 
of  inclining  towards  the  Romans.^  Corbulo  appears  to 
have  felt  that  it  was  necessary  to  atone  for  his  three 
years  of  inaction  by  at  length  prosecuting  the  war  in 
earnest.  He  tightened  the  discipline  of  the  legions, 
while  he  recruited  them  to  their  full  streno;th,^  made 
fresh  friends  among  the  hardy  races  of  the  neighboui-- 
hood,*  renewed  the  Roman  alliance  with  Pharasmanes 
of  Iberia,  urored  Antiochus  of  Commao:ene  to  cross  the 
Armenian  frontier,  and  taking  the  field  himself,  carried 
fire  and  sword  over  a  large  portion  of  the  Armenian 
territory.  Volagases  sent  a  contingent  of  troops  to  the 
assistance  of  his  feudatory,  but  was  unable  to  proceed 
to  his  relief  in  person,  owing  to  the  occurrence  of  a 
revolt  in  Hyrcania,^  which  broke  out,  fortunately  for 


'  Tacit.  Ann.  xiii.  34.  It  would 
seem  that  when  the  hostages  were 
given  in  a.d.  55,  ambassadors  were 
sent  to  Rome  to  endeavour  to  effect 
some  arrangement.  It  was  long  be- 
fore any  answer  was  vouchsafed 
them  (Dio  Cass.  Ixii.  20).  When 
a  reply  cnme,  it  appears  to  have 
been  to  the  effect  that  Tiridates  must 
either  relinquish  Armenia,  or  consent 


to  receive  it  at  the  hands  of  the 
Romans,  and  hold  it  as  a  Roman 
fief. 

"  Tacit.  Ann.  xiii.  37. 

'  Ibiil.  ch.  35. 

*  '  Tunc  primum  illecti  Isichi,  gens 
baud  alias  socia  Romanis.'  (Ibid. 
ch.  37.) 

''  Tacit.  Ann.  1.  s.  c.  Compare 
xiv.  25,  and  xv.  1. 


270  THE    SIXTH    MONAECHY.  [cil.    XVI. 

the  Romans,  in  the  very  year  that  the  rebellion  of  Var- 
danes  was  suppressed.  Under  these  circumstances  it  is 
not  surprising  that  Tiridates  had  recourse  to  treachery/ 
,  or  that  on  his  treachery  failing  he  continually  lost 
ground,  and  was  at  last  com2:)elled  to  evacuate  the 
country  and  yield  the  possession  of  it  to  the  Komans.  It 
is  more  remarkable  that  he  prolonged  his  resistance  into 
the  third  year  than  that  he  was  unable  to  continue  the 
struggle  to  a  later  date.  He  lost  his  capital,  Artaxata, 
in  A.D.  58,  and  Tigranocerta,  the  second  city  of  Armenia, 
in  A.D.  60.  After  this  he  made  one  further  effort  from 
the  side  of  Media,"^  but  the  attempt  was  unavailing; 
and  on  suffering  a  fresh  defeat,  he  withdrew  altogether 
from  the  struggle,  whereupon  Armenia  reverted  to  the 
Romans.  They  entrusted  the  government  to  a  certain 
Tigranes,  a  grandson  of  Archelaiis,  king  of  Cappadocia, 
but  at  the  same  time  greatly  diminished  the  extent  of 
the  kingdom  by  granting  portions  of  it  to  neighbouring 
princes.  Pharasmanes  of  Iberia,  Polemo  of  Pontus, 
Aristobulus  of  the  Lesser  Armenia,  and  Antiochus  of 
Commagene,  received  an  augmentation  of  their  terri- 
tories at  the  expense  of  the  rebel  state,  which  had  shown 
itself  incapable  of  ap})reciating  the  blessings  of  Roman 
rule  and  had  manifested  a  decided  preference  for  the 
Parthians.^ 

But  the  fate  of  Armenia,  and  the  position  which  she 
was  to  hold  in  respect  of  the  two  great  rivals,  Rome 
and  Parthia,  were  not  yet  decided.  Hitherto  Volagases, 
engaged  in  a  contest  with  the  Hyrcanians  and  with 
other  neighbouring  nations,  whereto  the  flames  of  war 


'  Tacit.  Ann.  xiii.  38-40. 

'^  Ibid.  xiv.  26. 

^  Tacitus  say.s  of  the  Armenians, 
'Amhigua  fide  utraque  arma  invi- 
tabant,    situ  terraium,    similitudine 


morurn  Parthis  propiores,  connu- 
biisque  permixti  ac  libertate  ignota, 
illuc  mdgls  ad  Hervltiiim  inclimibant.^ 
(Aral.  xiii.  34.) 


CII.  XVI.]  EOME    RECOVERS    ARME^^IA.  27 J 

Latl  spread/  had  found  himself  unal)le  to  take  any  per- 
sonal part  in  the  struggle  in  which  his  brother  and 
vassal  had  been  engaged  in  the  west.  Now  matters  in 
Hyrcania  admitted  of  arrangement,  and  he  was  at 
liberty  to  give  his  main  attention  to  Armenian  affairs. 
His  presence  in  the  West  had  become  absolutely 
necessary.  Not  only  was  Armenia  lost  to  him,  V)nt  it 
had  been  made  a  centre  from  which  his  other  provinces 
in  this  quarter  might  be  attacked  and  harassed.  Ti- 
granes,  proud  of  his  newly-won  crown,  and  anxious  to 
show  himself  worthy  of  it,  made  constant  incursions 
into  Adiabene,  ravaging  and  harrying  the  fertile  country 
far  and  wide.^  MonoVjazus,  unable  to  resist  him  in  the 
field,  was  l)eginning  to  contemplate  the  transfer  of  his 
allegiance  to  Home,  as  the  only  means  of  escaping  from 
the  evils  of  a  perpetual  border  war.^  Tiridates,  discon- 
tented with  the  position  whereto  he  found  himself 
reduced,  and  angry  that  his  brother  had  not  given  him 
more  effective  support,  was  loud  in  his  complaints,  and 
openly  taxed  Vol agases  with  an  inertness  that  bordered 
on  cowardice.'*  Public  opinion  was  inclined  to  accept 
and  approve  the  charge;  and  in  Parthia  public  opinion 
could  not  l)e  safely  contemned.  A^olagases  found  it 
necessary  to  win  back  his  subjects'  good-will  by  calling 
a  council  of  the  nobility,  and  making  them  a  formal 


'  We  know,  unfortunately,  no-  [  tecterl  by  Corbulo,  who  sent  them 
thing  of  these  wars  but  the  mere  home  by  the  circuitous  route  of  the 
fact    of    their    occurrence.        Some  j  Indian  Ocean  and  the  Indus  (?). 


have  supposed  them  to  have  been 
stirred  up  and  assisted  by  Rome 
(Merivale,   Roman   Empire,   vol.  vii. 


Tacit.    Ami.   XV.    1;   Dio   Cass. 
Ixii.  20. 

This  ?eems  to  be  implied  in  the 


p.  23) ;  but  there  is  uo  evidence  of  |  reflection     ascribed    to    Monobazus 


this.  On  one  occasion,  a  Hyrc  in  an 
embassy  made  its  way  to  Rome, 
and  solicited  aid  from  Nero  (Tac. 
Ann.  xiv.  25),  but  apparently  witii- 
out  any  result.  On  their  return  to 
the   East,  these   envoys   were   pro- 


by  Tacitus  (1.  s.  c),  '  I.evius  servi- 
tium  apud  Romanos  deditis  quara 
captis.' 

*  The  Latin  ignavia  (the  terra 
used  by  Tiridates  in  Tacitus)  unites 
these  two  notions. 


272  THE    SIXTH    MONAECHY.  [CH.  XVI. 

address  :  ^ — ^  Partliians,'  lie  said,  '  when  I  obtained  tlie 
first  place  among  you  by  my  brothers  ceding  their 
claims,  I  endeavoured  to  substitute  for  the  old  system 
of  fraternal  hatred  and  contention,  a  new  one  of  domes- 
tic affection  and  agreement ;  my  brother  Pacorus 
received  Media  from  my  hands  at  once ;  Tiridates, 
whom  you  see  now  before  you,  I  inducted  shortly  after- 
wards into  the  sovereignty  of  Armenia,  a  dignity  reck- 
oned the  third  in  tlie  Parthian  kingdom.  Thus  I  put 
my  family  matters  on  a  peaceful  and  satisfactory  footing. 
But  these  arrangements  are  now  disturbed  by  tlie 
Konians,  who  have  never  hitherto  broken  their  treaties 
with  us  to  their  profit,  and  who  will  now  find  that  they 
have  done  so  to  their  ruin.  I  will  not  deny  that 
hitherto  I  have  preferred  to  maintain  my  right  to  the 
territories,  which  have  come  to  me  from  my  ancestors, 
by  fair  dealing  rather  than  by  shedding  of  blood— by 
negotiation  rather  than  by  arms  ;  if,  however,  I  have 
erred  in  this  and  have  been  weak  to  delay  so  long,  I 
will  now  correct  my  fault  by  showing  the  moi'e  zeal. 
You  at  any  rate  have  lost  nothing  by  my  abstinence ; 
your  strength  is  intact,  your  glory  undiminished  ;  you 
have  added,  moreover,  to  your  reputation  for  valour 
the  credit  of  moderation — a  virtue  which  not  even  the 
highest  among  men  can  afford  to  despise,  and  which 
the  Gods  view  with  special  favour.'  Having  concluded 
his  speech,  he  placed  a  diadem  on  the  brow  of  Tiri- 
dates, proclaiming  by  this  significant  act  his  determi- 
nation to  restore  him  to  the  Armenian  throne.  At  the 
same  time  he  ordered   Monseses,   a   Parthian  general, 


'  See  Tacit.  Ann.  xv.  2.  It  has 
been  thout^Vit  host  not  to  overload 
this  histor}'  with  the  si)ecche.s  which 

Greek  and  Roman  writers  put  into  j  of  the  sentiments  to  the  occasion, 
tlie  mouths  of  their  historical  cha 


racters  on  all  possible  occasions.  In 
the  present  instnnce  an  exception  is 
madu  on  account  of  the  suitability 


CH.  XVI.]  THIRD  ARMENIAN  EXPEDITION  OF  VOLAGASES.  273 

and  Monobazus,  the  Adiabenian  monarch,  to  take 
the  field  and  enter  Armenia,  while  he  himself  with 
the  main  strength  of  the  empire  advanced  towards  the 
Euphrates  and  threatened  Syria  wdth  invasion.^ 

The  results  of  the  campaign  which  followed  (a.d.  62) 
scarcely  answered  to  this  magnificent  opening.  Mo- 
meses  indeed,  in  conjunction  with  Monol)azus,  invaded 
Armenia,  and  advancing  to  Tigranocerta,  besieged 
Tigranes  in  that  city,^  which  upon  the  destruction  of 
Artaxata  by  Corbulo,'^  had  become  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment. Volagases  himself  proceeded  as  far  as  Nisil;)is,^ 
whence  he  could  threaten  at  the  same  time  Armenia 
and  Syria.  The  Parthian  arms  proved,  however, 
powerless  to  effect  any  serious  impression  upon  Tigrano- 
certa ;  and  Volagases,  being  met  at  Nisibis  by  envoys 
from  Corbulo,  who  threatened  an  invasion  of  Parthia 
in  retaliation  of  the  Parthian  attack  upon  Armenia, 
consented  to  an  arrangement.  A  plague  of  locusts  had 
spread  itself  over  Upper  Mesopotamia,  and  the  conse- 
quent scarcity  of  forage  completely  paralysed  a  force 
which  consisted  almost  entirely  of  cavalry .'^  Volagases 
was  glad  under  the  circumstances  to  delay  the  conflict 
which  had  seemed  im2:>ending,  and  readily  agreed  that 
his  troops  should  suspend  the  siege  of  Tigranocerta 
and  withdraw  from  Armenia  on  condition  that  the 
Romans  should  at  the  same  time  evacuate  the  province.^ 
He  would  send,  he  said,  ambassadors  to  Rome  who 


'  Tacit.  Arm.  xv.  2. 

'  Ibid.  ch.  4. 

'  See  above,  p.  270. 

*  Tncit.  J>tn.  xv.  5. 

^  'Imbecilluin  equitem  pabuli  in- 
opia :  nam  exorta  vis  locnstarum 
ambederat   quicquid   herbiduin    aut 


in  Mesopotamia  and  tlie  adjacent 
region.s,  aee  Ancient  Monarchies,  vol. 
ii.  pp.  299,  493,  2nd  edit. 

^  Tacitu.s  docs  not  expre.'j.'^ly  men- 
tion this  condition,  but  implies  it 
in  Ann.  xv.  6.  ('Cur  enim  exerci- 
tura  Romaniim  a  Tiaranocertis  dc- 


frondosum  '  (Tac.  1.  s.  c).     On  the    ductum  ?      Cur   deserta  i)er  otium 
ravages  committed  by  these  insects'  quae  bello  defenderant  ? '"1 


9:74-  THE    SIXTH    MOIST AECHY.  [CII.  XVI. 

sliould  arrange  with  Nero  the  footing  upon  whicli 
Armenia  was  to  be  placed.  Meanwhile,  until  the 
embassy  returned,  there  should  be  peace — the  Ar- 
menians should  be  left  to  themselves — neither  Rome 
nor  Parthia  should  maintain  a  soldier  ^vithin  the  limits 
of  the  pi'ovince,  and  any  collision  ])etween  the  armies 
of  the  two  countries  should  be  avoided. 

A  pause,  apparently  of  some  months'  duration,  fol- 
lowed. Towards  the  close  of  autumn,  however,  a 
new  general  came  upon  the  scene  ;  and  a  new  factor 
was  introduced  into  the  political  and  military  com- 
binations of  the  period.  L.  C;«sennius  P?etus,  a 
favourite  of  the  Roman  emperor,  but  a  man  of  no 
capacity,  was  appointed  by  Nero  to  take  the  main 
direction  of  affairs  in  Armenia,  while  Corbulo  confined 
himself  to  the  care  of  Syria,  his  S2:)ecial  province. 
Corbulo  had  requested  a  coadjutor,^  probably  not  so 
much  from  an  opinion  that  the  war  would  be  better 
conducted  ]>y  two  commanders  than  by  one,  as  from 
fear  of  provoking  the  jealousy  of  Nero,  if  he  con- 
tinued any  longer  to  administer  the  whole  of  the  East. 
On  the  arrival  of  Paetus,  who  brought  one  legion  with 
him,  an  equitable  division  of  the  Roman  forces  was 
naade  between  the  generals.  Eacli  liad  three  legions  ; 
and  while  Corbulo  retained  the  Syrian  auxiliaries, 
those  of  Pontus,  Galatia,  and  Cappadocia  wei'e  attached 
to  the  army  of  Partus.  But  no  friendly  feeling  united 
the  leaders.  Corbulo  was  jealous  of  the  rival  whom 
he  knew  to  liave  been  sent  out  as  a  check  upon  him 
rather  than  as  a  help;  and  Pi«tus  was  inclined  to 
despise  tlie  shnv  and  temj)orising  policy  of  the  elder 
chief.  The  war,  according  to  his  views,  required  to  be 
carried  on  with  more  dash  and  visfour  than  had  hitherto 


^  Tac.  An7i,  xv,  3. 


CH.  XVI.]  CAMPAIGN    AGAINST    P.ETUS.  2''/5 

ap23eared  in  its  conduct — cities  sIiG'.:ld  be  stormed,  he 
said — tlie  whole  country  plundered — severe  examples 
made  of  the  guilty.  The  object  of  the  war  also 
should  be  changed — instead  of  setting  up  shadowy 
kings,  his  own  aim  would  be  to  reduce  Armenia  into 
the  form  of  a  province.^ 

The  truce  established  in  the  early  summer,  when 
Volagases  sent  his  envo3's  to  Nero,  expired  in  the 
autumn,  on  their  return  without  a  definite  reply  ;  ~  and 
the  Roman  commanders  at  once  took  the  offensive 
and  entered  upon  an  autumn  campaign,  the  second 
within  the  space  of  a  year.  Corbulo  crossed  the 
Euphrates  in  the  face  of  a  large  Parthian  army,  which 
he  forced  to  retire  from  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river 
by  means  of  military  engines  worked  from  ships  an- 
chored in  mid-stream.  He  then  advanced  and  occu- 
pied a  strong  position  in  the  hills  at  a  little  distance 
fi'oni  the  river,  where  he  caused  his  leo-ions  to  con- 
struct  an  entrenched  camp.^  Psetus,  on  his  part, 
entered  Armenia  from  Cappadocia  with  two  legions, 
and  passing  the  Taurus  range,  ravaged  a  large  extent 
of  country ;  winter,  liowever,  approaching,  and  the 
enemy  nowhere  appearing  in  force,  he  led  back  his 
troops  across  the  mountains,  and,  regarding  the  cam- 
paign as  finished,  wrote  a  dispatch  to  Xero  boasting  of 
his  successes,  sent  one  of  his  three  legions  to  winter  in 
Pontus,  and  j)laced  the  other  two  in  quarters  between 
the  Taurus  and  the  Euphrates,  at  the  same  time  grant- 
ing furloughs  to  as  many  of  the  soldiers  as  chose  to 
apply  for  them.     A  large  number  took  advantage  of 


*  This  is  clearly   the  meaning  of  likel}'  to  conciliate  the  Armenians, 

the    threat — '  Se    tribnta    et    leges,  "  Tac.  Ann.  xv.  7. 

et  pro  umbra   regis   Romanum  jus  '  Ibid.  ch.  9. 
victis    impositurum.'     It    was    not 


276 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.  XVI. 


Ins  liberality,  preferring  no  doubt  the  pleasures  and 
amusements  of  the  Syrian  and  Cappadociai^  cities  to 
tlie  hardships  of  a  winter  in  the  Armenian  highlands. 
While  matters  were  in  this  j)osition,  Psetus  suddenly 
heard  that  Volagases  was  advancing  against  him.  As 
once  before  at  an  important  crisis/  so  now  with  the 
prospect  of  Armenia  as  the  prize  of  victory,  the  Par- 
thians  deiied  the  severities  of  winter  and  commenced  a 
campaign  when  their  enemy  regarded  the  season  for 
war  as  over.  In  this  crisis  Pietus  exhibited  an  entire 
unfitness  for  command.  First,  he  resolved  to  remain 
on  the  defensive  in  his  camp:  then,  affecting  to  despise 
the  protection  of  ramparts  and  ditches,  he  gave  the 
order  to  advance  and  meet  the  enemy ;  finally,  after 
losinf*-  a  few  scouts  whom  he  had  sent  forward,  he 
hastily  retreated  and  resumed  his  old  position,  but  at 
the  same  time  unwisely  detached  three  thousand  of 
his  best  foot  to  block  the  pass  of  Taurus,  through 
which  Yolao-ases  was  advaucin<]^."  After  some  hesita- 
tion  he  was  induced  to  make  Corbulo  acquainted 
with  his  position ;  but  the  message  which  he  sent 
merely  stated  that  he  was  expecting  to  be  attacked.^ 
Corbulo  was  in  no  hurry  to  proceed  to  his  relief,  pre- 
feri'ing  to  appear  upon  the  scene  at  tlie  last  moment, 
when  he  would  be  hailed  as  a  saviour. 

Volaeases,  meanwhile,  continued  his  march.  The 
small  force  left  l)y  Ptetus  to  block  his  progress  was 
easily  overpowered,  and  for  the  most  part  destroyed.* 
The  castle  of  Arsamosata,^  where  Pa3tus  had  j^laced 


'  See  above,  pp.  101-105. 

^  Tacit.  Ann.  xv.  10.  The  in- 
fantry bad  the  .support  of  some 
troop.s  of  Pannonian  horse,  which 
fled,  however,  on  the  approach  of 
Volagases. 

'  '  Hostem  in.stare.'    (Tacit,  l.s.  c.) 

Mbid.  XV.  11. 


*  Arsamo.«ata  must  not  be  con- 
founded vviih  Samosata,  now  Sumei- 
sat.  Sauio.sata  was  situated  on  the 
Euphrates  (Strab.  xvi.  2,  §3),  from 
which  Arsamosata  was  at  least  forty 
(Roman)  miles  distant  (Tac.  Aim. 
XV.  16). 


CH.  XVI. J  P^TUS    CAPITULATES.  277 

bis  wife  and  child,  and  the  fortified  camp  of  tlie  legions, 
were  1)esieo;ed.^  The  lionians  were  challeno-ed  to  a 
battle,  but  dared  not  show  themselves  outside  their 
entrenchments.  Having  no  confidence  in  their  leader, 
the  legionaries  despaired  and  began  openly  to  talk  of 
a  surrender.  As  the  danger  drew  nearer,  fresh  mes- 
sengers had  been  dispatched  to  Corbiilo,  and  he  had 
been  implored  to  come  at  his  best  speed  in  order  to 
save  the  j)oor  remnant  of  a  defeated  army.^  That 
commander  was  on  his  march,  by  way  of  Conimagene 
and  Cappadocia  ;  it  could  not  be  very  long  before  he 
would  arrive ;  and  the  supplies  in  the  camp  of  Psetus 
were  sufficient  to  have  enabled  him  to  hold  out  for 
weeks  or  months.'^  But  an  unworth}^  terror  had  seized 
both  PsGtus  and  his  soldiers.  Instead  of  holding  out 
to  the  last,  the  alarmed  chief  proposed  negotiations, 
and  the  result  was  that  he  consented  to  capitulate. 
His  troops  were  to  be  allowed  to  quit  their  entrench- 
ments and  withdraw  from  the  country,  bnt  were  to 
surrender  their  strono-holds  and  their  stores.  Armenia 
was  to  be  completely  evacuated  by  the  Eomans  ;  and  a 
truce  was  to  l)e  ol)served  and  Armenia  not  again 
invaded,  imtil  a  fresh  embassy,  which  Volagases  pro- 
posed to  send  to  Rome,  returned.  Moreover,  a  bridge 
Avas  to  be  made  by  the  Romans  over  the  Arsanias,  a 
tri])utary  of  the  Euplirates,  which,  as  it  was  of  no 
innnediate  service  to  the  Parthians,  could  only  be 
intended  as  a  monument  of  the  Roman  defeat.'*  Psetus 
assented  to  these  terms,  and  they  were  carried  out ; 
not,  however,   without  some  further  ignominy  to  the 


]|Tac.  Ann.  xv.  13.  [      ^  Ibid.  ch.  16. 

-  '  Veniret  propere:  signa  et  aqui-  j      *  Dio  Cass.  Ixii.  21.    Compare  Tac. 
las,    et    nomcn     reliquuin     infelicis   J.?m.  xv.  15. 
cxercitus  tueretur.'     (Ibid.  ch.  11.) 


278  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    XV L 

Romans.  The  Partliians  entered  tlie  Roman  entrench- 
ments before  the  legionaries  had  left  them,  and  laid 
their  hands  on  anything  which  they  recognised  as 
Armenian  spoil.  They  even  seized  the  soldiers'  clothes 
and  arms,  which  were  relinquished  to  them  without  a 
struggle,  lest  resistance  should  provoke  an  outbreak.^ 
Psetus,  once  more  at  liberty,  proceeded  with  unseemly 
haste  to  the  Euphrates,  deserting  his  wounded  and  his 
stragglers,^  whom  he  left  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the 
Armenians.  At  the  Euphrates,  he  effected  a  junction 
with  Corbulo,  who  was  but  three  days'  march  distant 
when  Ptetus  so  disgracefully  capitulated. 

The  chiefs,  when  they  met,  exchanged  no  cordial 
greeting.  Corbulo  complained  that  he  had  been  in- 
duced to  make  a  useless  Journey,  and  to  weary  his 
troops  to  no  purpose,  since  without  any  aid  from  him 
the  legions  might  have  escaped  from  their  difficulties 
by  simply  waiting  until  the  Parthians  had  exhausted 
their  stores,  when  they  must  have  retired.  Paetus,  anxious 
to  obliterate  the  memory  of  his  failure,  proposed  that 
the  coml:)ined  armies  should  at  once  enter  Armenia  and 
overrun  it,  since  Volagases  and  his  Parthians  had  with- 
drawn. Corbulo  replied  coldly — that  'he  had  no  such 
orders  from  the  Emperor.  He  had  quitted  his  province 
to  rescue  the  threatened  legions  from  their  peril ;  now 
that  the  peril  was  past,  he  must  return  to  Syria  since 
it  w^as  quite  uncertain  what  the  enemy  might  next 
attempt.  It  would  l)e  hard  work  for  his  infantry, 
tij'ed  with  the  long  marches  it  had  made,  to  keep  pace 
with  the  Parthian  cavalry,  which  was  fresh  and  would 
pass  rapidly  through  the  plains.  The  generals  upon 
this  parted.  Psetus  wintered  in  Cappadocia ;  Corbulo 
returned   into    Syria,  Avhere-  a   demand    reached  him 

'  Tac.  A7m.  xv.  15.  I      '  Ibid.  ch.  16. 


CII.  X^'I.]  WAE    COMMITTED   TO    CORBULO.  279 

from  Yolagases  tliat  lie  would  evacuate  Mesopotamia. 
He  agreed  to  do  so  on  tbe  condition  that  Armenia 
should  be  evacuated  by  the  Parthians.^  To  this  Vola- 
gases  consented ;  since  he  had  re-established  Tiridates 
as  king,  and  the  Armenians  might  be  trusted,  if  left  to 
themselves,  to  prefer  Parthian  to  Roman  ascendancy. 

There  was  now,  again,  a  pause  in  the  war  for  some 
months.  The  envoys  sent  by  Volagases  after  the 
capitulation  of  P.'^tus  reached  Kome  at  the  commence- 
ment of  spring^  (a.d.  63),  and  were  there  at  once  ad- 
mitted to  an  audience.  They  proposed  peace  on  the 
terms  that  Tiridates  should  be  recognised  as  king  of 
Armenia,  but  that  he  should  go  either  to  Rome,  or  to 
the  head-quarters  of  the  Roman  legions  in  the  East,  in 
order  to  receive  investiture,  either  from  the  Emperor 
or  his  representative.  It  was  with  some  difficulty  that 
Nero  was  brouo-ht  to  believe  in  the  success  of  Vola- 
gases,  so  entirely  had  he  trusted  the  dispatches  of 
Paetus,  which  represented  the  Romans  as  triumphant.'^ 
When  the  state  of  affairs  was  fully  understood  from 
the  letters  of  Corbulo  and  the  accounts  given  by  a 
Roman  officer  who  had  accompanied  the  Parthian 
envoys,  there  was  no  doubt  or  hesitation  as  to  the 
course  which  should  be  pursued.  The  Parthian  pro- 
posals must  be  I'ejected.  Rome  must  not  make  peace 
immediately  upon  a  disaster,  or  until  she  had  retrieved 
her  reputation  and  shown  her  j^ower  by  again  taking 
the  offensive.  P?etus  Avas  at  once  recalled,  and  the 
whole  direction  of  the  war  given  to  Corbulo,  -who  was 
intrusted  with  a  wide-spreading  and  extraordinary 
authority.^     The  Parthian  envoys  were  dismissed,  T)ut 


*  Dio  Cass.  Ixii.  22  ;   Tac.  Ann. 
XV.  17. 

"  Tac.  Ann.  xv.  24. 


'  Ibid.   ch.  25. 

*  Tacitus    compares    the    powers 
now  granted  to  Corbulo  with  those 


280  THE    SIXTH    MONAECHY.  [CH.  XVI. 

with  irifts,  which  seemed  to  show  that  it  was  not  so 
much  their  proposals,  as  the  circimistances  under 
which  they  had  been  made,  that  were  unpalatable.* 
Another  legion  was  sent  to  the  East ;  and  the  semi- 
independent  princes  and  dynasts  were  exhorted  to 
support  Corbulo  with  zeal.  That  commander  used  his 
extraordinary  powers  to  draw  together,  not  so  much  a 
very  large  force,  as  one  that  could  be  thoroughly 
trusted ;  ^  and  collecting  his  troops  at  Melitene  (Mala- 
tiyeh),  made  his  arrangements  for  a  fresh  invasion. 

Penetrating  into  Armenia  by  the  road  formerly  fol- 
lowed by  Lucullus,  Corbulo,  with  three  legions,  and 
probably  the  usual  proportion  of  allies — an  army  of 
about  30,000  men  —  advanced  against  the  combined 
Armenians  and  Parthians  under  Tiridates  and  Vola- 
gases,  freely  offering  battle,  and  at  the  same  time 
taking  vengeance,  as  he  proceeded,  on  the  Armenian 
nobles  who  had  been  especially  active  in  opposing 
Tigranes,  the  late  Roman  puppet-king.^  His  march 
led  him  near  the  spot  where  the  capitulation  of  Psetus 
had  occurred  in  the  preceding  winter ;  and  it  was 
while  he  was  in  this  neighbourhood  that  envoys  from 
the  enemy  met  him  with  proposals  for  an  accommoda- 
tion. Corbulo,  who  had  never  shown  himself  anxious 
to  push  matters  to  an  extremity,  readily  accepted  the 
overtures.  The  site  of  the  camp  of  Paetus  was  chosen 
for  the  place  of  meeting ;  and  there,  accompanied  by 
twenty  horsemen  each,  Tiridates  and  the  Roman  general 


which  were  entrusted  to  Pompey 
by  the  Gabinian  law.  (See  on  this 
Merivale,  Roman  Empire,  vol.  i.  p. 
66.) 

'  T)io  attributes  to  Nero  at  this 
tim(!  the  proposal  of  exactly  those 
conditions  of  ])eace  which  he  re- 
JLct(  d  (Dio  Cass.  Ixii.  22).       He  is 


to  be  corrected  from  Tacitus  (Ann. 
XV.  25). 

-  See  Tac.  An7i.  xv.  26,  where 
there  is  mention  of  his  obtaining 
picked  cohorts  from  Egypt  and 
lUyricum. 

=  Ibid.   ch.  27. 


CH.  XVI.]    PEACE  MADE  BETWEEN  PARTHIA  AISTD  ROilE.    281 

held  an  interview.^  The  terms  proposed  and  agreed 
upon  were  the  same  that  Nero  had  rejected  ;  and  thus 
the  Pai-thians  could  not  but  be  satisfied,  since  they  ob- 
tained all  for  which  they  had  asked.  Corbulo,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  content  to  have  made  the  arrangement 
on  Armenian  soil,  while  he  was  at  the  head  of  an  intact 
and  unblemished  army,  and  held  possession  of  an 
Armenian  district ;  so  that  the  tei'ms  could  not  seem 
to  have  been  extorted  by  fear,  but  rather  to  have  been 
allowed  as  equitable.  He  also  secured  the  immediate 
performance  of  a  ceremony  at  which  Tiridates  divested 
himself  of  the  regal  ensigns  and  placed  them  at  the 
foot  of  the  statue  of  Nero  ;  and  he  took  security  for 
the  performance  of  the  promise  that  Tiridates  should 
go  to  Kome  and  receive  his  crown  from  tlie  hands  of 
Nero,  by  requiring  and  obtaining  one  of  his  daughters 
as  a  hostage.  In  return,  he  readily  undertook  that 
Tiridates  should  be  treated  with  all  proper  honour 
during  his  stay  at  Rome,  and  on  his  journeys  to  and 
from  Italy,  assuring  Volagases,  who  was  anxioi;s  on 
these  points,  that  Rome  regarded  only  the  sul^stance, 
and  made  no  account  of  the  mere  show  and  tra^^pings 
of  power.^ 

The  ai'i'angement  thus  made  was  honestly  executed. 
After  a  delay  of  above  two  years,^  for  which  it  is 
difficult  to  account,  Tiridates  set  out  upon  his  journey. 
He  was  accompanied  by  his  wife,  by  a  numljer  of 
noble  youths,  among  whom  were  sons  of  Volagases 
and  of  Monobazus,  and  by  an  escort  of  three  thousand 
Parthian  cavalry.^     The  long  cavalcade  passed,  like  a 


'  Tl)icl.  ch.  28.  I  did  not  make  his  appe-irance  at  Rome 

*  Ibid.  chs.  29-31.  till   tiie    spring   of   a.d.    6G.       (See 

^  Tlie  arrangement  was  made  in    Clinton,  F.  R.  vol.  i.  p.  48.) 
the  summer  of  a.d.   03.     Tiridates  |      *  Die  Cass.  Ixiii.  1,  2. 


282 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[cii. 


XVL 


magnificent  triumphal  procession,  through  two-thirds  of 
the  Empire,  and  was  everywhere  warmly  welcomed 
and  sumptuously  entertained.  Each  city  which  lay 
upon  its  route  was  decorated  to  receive  it ;  and  the 
loud  acclaims  of  the  multitudes  expressed  their  satis- 
faction at  the  novel  spectacle.  The  riders  made  the 
Avhole  journey,  except  the  passage  of  the  Hellespont, 
by  land,  proceeding  through  Thrace  and  Illyricum 
to  the  head  of  the  Adriatic,^  and  then  descending 
the  peninsula.  Their  entertainment  was  furnished  at 
the  expense  of  the  state,  and  is  said  to  have  cost  the 
treasury  800,000  sesterces  (about  6,250/.)  a  day  :  ^  this 
outlay  was  continued  for  nine  months,  and  must  have 
amounted  in  the  aQ:o:re2:ate  to  above  a  million  and  a 
half  of  our  money.  The  first  interview  of  the  Par- 
thian prince  with  his  nominal  sovereign  was  at  Naples, 
where  Nero  happened  to  be  staying.  According  to 
the  ordinary  etiquette  of  the  Roman  court,  Tii'idates 
was  requested  to  lay  aside  hi^  sword  before  approach- 
ing the  Emperor  ;  but  this  he  declined  to  do ;  and  the 
difficulty  seemed  serious  until  a  compromise  was  sug- 
gested, and  he  was  allowed  to  approach  wearing  his 
weapon,  after  it  had  first  l)een  carefully  fastened  to  the 
scabVjard  by  nails.  He  then  drew  near,  bent  one  knee 
to  the  gi'ound,  interlaced  his  hands,  and  made  obeisance, 
at  the  same  time  saluting  the  Emperor  as  his  '  lord.'^ 

The  ceremony  of  the  investiture  was  performed  after- 
wards at  liome.  On  the  night  preceding,  the  whole 
city  was  illuminated  and  decorated  with  garlands ;  the 
Forum,  as  morning  approached,  was  filled  with  'the 


'  This  is  the  meaning  of  Dio 
(Ixiii.  7),  where  vKip  rov  '\oviov  has 
been  f^enerally  translated  '  across 
(he  Adriatic'  instead  of  'above 'or 


'round    the  head  of  the  Adriatic,' 
which  is  the  true  meaning. 

-  Sueton.  Ncron.  §  30.     Dio  agrees 
(Ixiii.  2).  ^  Dio  Cass.  1.  s.  c. 


CH.    XVI.]        TIRIDATES  AT  THE  COURT  OF  NERO.  283 

people,'  arranged  in  tlieir  several  tribes,  clotliecl  in 
white  robes  and  bearing  bouglis  of  laurel ;  the  Prae- 
torians, in  their  splendid  arms,  were  drawn  up  in  two 
lines  from  the  further  extremity  of  the  Forum  to  the 
Eostra,  to  maintain  the  avenue  of  approach  clear ;  all 
the  roofs  of  the  buildings  on  every  side  were  thronged 
with  crowds  of  spectators ;  at  break  of  day  Nero 
ai'rived  in  the  attire  appropriated  to  triumphs,  accom- 
panied by  the  members  of  the  Senate  and  his  body- 
guard, and  took  his  seat  on  the  Rostra  in  a  curule 
chair.  Tiridates  and  his  suite  w^ere  then  introduced 
between  the  two  long  lines  of  soldiers;  and  the  prince, 
advancing  to  the  Rostra,  made  an  oration,  which,  (as 
reported  by  Dio)  was  of  a  sufficiently  abject  character.^ 
Nero  responded  proudly ;  and  then  the  Armenian 
prince,  ascending  the  Rostra  by  a  way  constructed  for 
the  purpose,  and  sitting  at  the  feet  of  the  Roman 
Emperor,  received  from  his  hand,  after  his  speech  had 
been  interpreted  to  the  assembled  Romans,  the  coveted 
diadem,  the  symbol  of  Oriental  sovereignty.^ 

After  a  stay  of  some  weeks,  or  possibly  months,  at 
Rome,  during  which  he  was  entertained  by  Nero  w4th 
extreme  magnificence,  Tiridates  returned,  across  the 
Adriatic  and  throuo;h  Greece  and  Asia  Minor,'^  to  his 
ow^n  land.  The  circumstances  of  his  journey  and  his 
reception  involved  a  concession  to  Rome  of  all  that 
could  be  desired  in  the  way  of  formal  and  verbal 
acknowledgment.  The  substantial  advantage,  how- 
ever,   remained    w^ith    the    Parthians.     The    Romans, 


*  According  to  this  author,   Tiri-  henceforth  my  fate  will  be  whatever 
dates    said — '  Master,    I   am   a    de- '  thou  makest  it.     For  thou  art  my 

scendant  of  Arsaces,  a  brother  of  the  Fate  and  my  Forlune.'     (Dio  Cass, 

kings  Vologasus  and  Pacorus  ;  but  Ixiii.  5.) 

I  am  thy  slave.     I  have  come  hither  ^  Dio  Cass.  1.  s.  c. ;  Sueton.  Ner. 

to  tliee,  vvlio  art  my  God,  to  worship  §  13. 

thee,  as  I  wouM  Mithras  ;  and  from  ^  Dio  Cass.  Ixiii.  7. 


284  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    XVI. 

both  in  the  East  and  at  the  capital,  were  flattered  by  a 
show  of  submission ;  but  the  Orientals  must  have  con- 
cluded that  the  lono^  stru2:2:le  had  terminated  in  an 
acknowledgment  by  Home  of  Parthia  as  the  stronger 
power.  Ever  since  the  time  of  Lucullus,  x\rmenia  had 
been  the  object  of  contention  between  the  two  states, 
both  of  which  had  sought,  as  occasion  served,  to  place 
upon  the  throne  its  own  nominees.  Kecently  the 
rival  ])owers  had  at  one  and  the  same  time  brought 
forward  rival  claimants ;  and  the  very  tangible  issue 
had  been  raised — Was  Tigranes  or  Tiridates  to  be 
king  ?  When  the  claims  of  Tigranes  were  finally, 
with  the  consent  of  Rome,  set  aside,  and  those  of 
Tiridates  allowed,  the  real  point  in  dispute  was  yielded 
by  the  Romans.  A  Parthian,  the  actual  brother  of 
the  reigning  Parthian  king,  was  permitted  to  rule  the 
country  which  Rome  had  long  deemed  her  own.  It 
could  not  be  doubted  that  he  would  rule  it  in  accord- 
ance with  Parthian  interests.  His  Roman  investiture 
was  a  form  which  he  had  been  forced  to  go  through  ; 
what  effect  could  it  have  on  him  in  the  future,  except 
to  create  a  feelins;  of  soreness  ?  The  arms  of  Vola- 
gases  had  been  the  real  force  which  had  placed  him 
upon  the  throne;  and  to  those  arms  he  must  have 
looked  to  support  him  in  case  of  an  emergency.  Thus 
Armenia  was  in  point  of  fact  relinquished  to  Parthia 
at  the  very  time  when  it  was  nominally  replaced 
under  the  sovereignty  of  the  Romans.^ 

There  is  much  doubt  as  to  the  time  at  which  Vola- 
gases  I.  ceased  to  reign.     The  classical  writers  give  no 


'  Writers  on  Roman  history  have  j  to  Nero,  he  icrt.s  Hiiffered  to  place  him- 
not    always   seen   this.      But   Dean    .self   really   under   the  -protection  of 
Merivale  well  observes,  in  conclud- j  Vologesus^  {lioman  Empire,  vol.  vii. 
ing  his  notice  of  the  events — '  While  I  p.  26). 
Tiridates  did  homage  for  his  kingdom  i 


CH.  XVI.]        LENGTH  OF  THE  REIGN  OF  TOLAGASES  285 

indication  of  the  death  of  any  Parthian  king  between 
the  year  a.d.  51,  when  they  record  the  demise  of 
Vonones  II.,  and  about  the  year  a.d.  90,  when  they 
speak  of  a  certain  Pacoi'us  as  occupying  the  throne.^ 
Moi'eover,  during  this  interval,  whenever  they  have 
occasion  to  mention  the  reigning  Parthian  monarch, 
they  always  give  him  the  name  of  Volagases.^  Hence 
it  has  been  customary  among  writers  on  Parthian 
history  to  assign  to  Volagases  I.  the  entire  period 
between  ad.  51  and  a.d.  90 — a  space  of  thirty-nine 
years.^  Recently,  however,  the  study  of  the  Parthian 
coins  has  shown  absolutely  that  Pacorus  began  to 
reign  at  least  as  early  as  a.d.  78,^  while  it  has  raised  a 
suspicion  that  the  space  between  a.d  51  and  a.d.  78 
was  shared  between  two  kings,^  one  of  whom  reigned 
from  A.D.  51  to  about  a.d.  62,  and  the  other  from 
about  a.d.  62  to  a.d.  78.  It  has  been  proposed  to  call 
these  kings  respectively  Volagases  I.  and  Artabauus  IV.,^ 
or  Volagases  i.  and  Volagases  11.,''^  and  Parthian  history 
has  been   written  on  this  basis ;  ^  but  it  is  confessed 


'  Pacorus  is  mentioned  as  king  of  ^  The  coins  which  run  from  AHT 
Parthia  by  Martial  in  an  epigram  (a.d.  52)  to  HUT  (a.d. T())are thought 
written  under  Domitian,  probably  I  to  present  two  distinct  types  of  face, 
towards  the  close  of  his  reign,  which  one  of  which  is  found  always  before 
was  from  a.d.  81  to  a.d.  96.  (Mart.  a.d.  62,  and  the  other  always  after 
Epig.  ix.  36,  3.)  Clinton  dates  the  that  date.  This  seems  to  be  the 
epigram  a.d.  94  or  95  {F.  R.  vol.  i.  opinion  of  the  best  numismatologists, 
p.  79).  as    MM.    Longperier    and    De    Bar- 

"  See  Sueton.  Ner.  §  57  ;  Vesp.  tholoinei,  Mr.  Lindsay,  and  the  late 
§  6;  Domit.  ^  2;  Tac.  Hist.  iv.  51  ;  Mr.  De  Salis.  For  my  own  part,  I 
Dio  Cass.  Ixvi.  11  ;  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  confess  I  am  unable  to  detect  any 
vii.  5,  §  2,  and  7,  §  2.  \  clear  difference. 

'  Vaillant,  Arsacid.  Tmper.  pp.  249-  ®  Lindsay,  Hhtory  and  Coinage., 
292;  Heeren,  MnnunJ  of  Ancient  His-  !  p.  87. 

tory,  p.  303,  E.T.  ;  Plate  in  Smith's  i  '  In  the  British  Museum  Collec- 
Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Hainan  tion,  ai  ranged  by  the  late  Mr.  De 
Biography.,  vol.  i.  pp.  358,  359.  \  Salis.  these  names  are  adopted. 

■•  A  coin  of  Pacorus,  bearing  his  I      *  By    Mr.    Lindsay   {History  a)id 
name,  has  the  date  OUT  Aaiaiov,  or  I  Coinage,  pp.  71-101). 
June,  AD.  7b.  ' 


286  THE    SIXTH    IMONARCHY.  [CH.    XVI. 

that  the  entire  absence  of  any  intimation  by  the 
classical  writers  that  there  was  any  change  of  monarch 
in  this  space,  or  that  the  Volagases  of  whom  they 
speak  as  a  contemporary  of  Vespasian  was  any  other 
than  the  adversary  of  Corbulo,  is  a  very  great  difficulty 
in  the  way  of  this  view  being  accepted ;  and  it  is  sug- 
gested that  the  two  kings  which  the  coins  indicate, 
may  have  been  contemporary  monarchs  reigning  in 
different  parts  of  Parthia.^  To  such  a  theory  there 
can  be  no  oT)jectiou.  The  Parthian  coins  distinctly 
show  the  existence-  under  the  later  Arsacidse  of  nume- 
rous pretenders,  or  rivals  to  the  true  monarch,  of 
whom  we  have  no  other  trace.  In  the  time  of  Vola- 
gases I.  there  was  (we  know)  a  revolt  in  Hyrcania,^ 
which  was  certainly  not  suppressed  as  late  as  a.d.  75. 
The  kino"  who  has  been  called  Artabanus  IV.  or  Vola- 
gases  II.  may  have  maintained  himself  in  this  region, 
while  Volagases  I.  continued  to  rule  in  the  Western 
provinces  and  to  l)e  the  only  monarch  known  to  the 
Romans  and  the  Jews.  If  this  be  the  true  account  of 
the  matter,  we  may  regard  Volagases  I.  as  having 
most  prol)ably  reigned  from  a.d.  5 L  to  about  a.d.  78 — 
a  space  of  twenty-seven  years. 


'  Lindsay,    History  and   Coinage^ 
p.  87. 

-  See    above,   pp.  269-271.     The 


(ibid.  XV.  1).  From  this  time  we 
have  no  distinct  mention  of  it  until 
A.D.  75,  when  it  appears  from  .Jose- 


revolt  appears  to  liave  broken  out  |  phus  (Bdl.  Jiul.  vii.  7,  §  4)  that  the 
in  A  D.  58  (Tac.  Ann.  xiii.  37).  We  revolt  iiad  succeeded,  and  that  a 
hear  of  it  as  continuing  in  a.d.  GO  i  king  ruled  in  Hyrcania  who  was 
(ibid.  xiv.  25),  and  again  in  a.d.  G2  |  completely  independent. 


CH.  XYII.]  LATER    YEARS    OF   VOLAGASES    I.  287 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Results  of  the  Establishment  of  Tiridates  in  Arme?iia.  Long  period  of 
Peace  between  Parthia  and  Rome.  Obscurity  of  J^arthian  History  at  this 
time.  Relations  of  Volagases  I.  with  Vespasian.  Invasion  of  Western 
Asia  by  Alani.  Death  of  Volagases  I.  and  Character  of  his  Reign. 
Accession  and  Long  Reign  of  Pacorus.  Relations  of  Pacorus  with 
Decebalus  of  Dacia.  Internal  Condition  of  Parthia  during  his  Reign. 
Death  of  Pacorus  and  Accession  of  Chosroes. 

•  Longa  Concordia  quietus  Oriens  .  .  .  tantum  adversus  Parthos  min;Te.' 

Tacit.  Hhiit.  ii.  G. 

The  establishment  of  Tiridates  as  king  of  Armenia,  with 
the  joint  consent  of  Volagases  and  Nero,  inaugurated  a 
pei'iod  of  peace  between  the  two  Empires  of  Kome  and 
Parthia,  which  exceeded  half  a  century.^  This  result 
was  no  doubt  a  fortunate  one  for  the  inhabitants  of 
Western  Asia ;  l)ut  it  places  the  modern  historian  of 
the  Parthians  at  a  disadvantasre.  Hitherto  the  classical 
writers,  in  relating  the  wars  of  the  Syro-Macedonians 
and  the  Romans,  have  furnished  materials  for  Parthian 
history,  which,  if  not  as  complete  as  we  might  wish,  have 
been  at  any  rate  fairly  copious  and  satisfactory.  Now, 
for  the  space  of  half  a  century,  we  are  left  without  any- 
thing like  a  consecutive  narrative,  and  are  thrown  upon 
scattered  and  isolated  notices,  which  can  form  only  a 
most  incomplete  and  disjointed  narrative.  The  reign  of 
Volagases  I.  appears  to  have  continued  for  about  twelve 
years  after  the  visit  of  Tiridates  to  Rome  ;^  and  no 


*  The  peace  dates  from  the  year    the  great   expedition   of  Trajan  in 
A.D.  62,   when  the  arrangement  was    a.d.  115. 
made    with  Corbulo  (see  above,    p.  1      ^  See  above,  p.  282. 
280  281).     It  was  not  infringed  until  i 


288  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [cil.  XVII 

more  than  three  or  four  events  are  known  as  having 
fallen  into  this  interval.  Our  knowledge  of  the  reign 
of  Pacorus  is  yet  more  scanty.  But  as  the  business  of 
the  workman  is  simply  to  make  the  best  use  that  he 
can  of  his  materials,  STich  a  sketch  of  this  dark  period 
as  the  notices  which  have  come  down  to  us  allow,  will 
now  be  attempted. 

When  the  troubles  which  followed  upon  the  death 
of  Nero  shook  the  Roman  world,  and  after  the  violent 
ends  of  Galba  and  Otho,  the  governor  of  Judaea, 
Vespasian,  resolved  to  become  a  candidate  for  the 
imperial  power  (a.d.  69),  Volagases  was  at  once  in- 
formed by  envoys  of  the  event,  and  was  exhorted  to 
maintain  towards  the  new  monarch  the  same  peaceful 
attitude  which  he  had  now  for  seven  years  observed 
towards  his  predecessors.^  Volagases  not  only  com- 
plied with  the  request,  but  sent  ambassadors  in  return 
to  Vespasian,  while  he  was  still  at  Alexandria  (a.d.  70), 
and  offered  to  put  at  his  disposal  a  body  of  forty 
thousand  Parthian  cavalry.^  The  circumstances  of  his 
position  allowed  Vespasian  to  decline  this  magnificent 
proposal,  and  to  escape  the  odium  which  ^s^ould  have 
attached  to  the  employment  of  foreign  troops  against  his 
countrymen.  His  generals  in  Italy  had  by  this  time 
carried  all  before  them  ;  and  he  was  able,  after  thanking 
the  Parthian  monarch,  to  inform  him  that  peace  was  re- 
stored to  the  Roman  world,  and  that  he  had  therefore 
no  need  of  auxiliaries.^  In  the  same  friendly  spirit 
in  which  he  had  made  this  oflTer,  Volagases,  in  the  next 
year  (a.d.  71),  sent  envoys  to  Titus  at  Zeugma,  who 
presented  to  him  the  Parthian  king's  congratulations  on 
his  victorious  conclusion  of  tlie  Jewish  war,  and  begged 


'  Tacit.  IliHt.  ii.  82.  I  iv.  51.  =  Tacit.  ITld.  1.  s.  c. 

°  Sueton.     Veap.    §    G  ;    Tac  IR»t.  ' 


CIL    XYII.]  TROUBLES    IN    COMMAGENB.  289 

his  acceptance  of  a  crown  of  gold.  The  polite  atten- 
tion was  courteously  received;  and  before  allowing 
them  to  return  to  their  master,  tlie  young  pi'ince  hos- 
pitably entertained  the  Parthian  messengers  at  a  ban- 
quet.* 

Soon  after  this,  circumstances  occurred  in  the  border 
state  of  Commagene  which  threatened  a  rupture  of 
the  friendly  relations  that  had  hitherto  subsisted  be- 
tween Volagases  and  Vespasian.^  Csesennius  Psetus, 
proconsul  of  Syria,  the  unsuccessful  general  in  the 
late  Armenian  war,  informed  Vespasian,  early  in  a.d.  72, 
that  he  had  discovered  a  plot,  by  which  Commagene, 
one  of  the  Roman  subject  kingdoms,  was  to  be  de- 
tached from  the  Roman  alliance,  and  made  over  to  the 
Parthians.  Antiochus,  the  aged  monarch,  and  his  son 
Epiphanes  were,  according  to  Psetus,  both  concerned 
in  the  treason  ;  and  the  arrangement  with  the  Parthians 
was,  he  said,  actually  concluded.  It  would  be  well  to 
nip  the  evil  in  the  bud.  If  the  transfer  of  territory 
once  took  place,  a  most  serious  disturbance  of  the 
Roman  power  ^vould  follow.  Commagene  lay  west  of 
the  Euphrates ;  and  its  capital  city,  Samosata  (the 
modern  Sumeisat),  commanded  one  of  the  points 
where  the  great  river  was  most  easily  crossed ;  so  that, 
if  the  Parthians  held  it,  they  would  have  a  ready 
access  at  all  times  to  the  Roman  provinces  of  Cappa- 
docia,  Cilicia,  and  Syria,  witli  a  perfectly  safe  retreat. 
These  arguments  had  weight  with  Vespasian,  who 
seems  to  have  had  entire  confidence  in  Pyetus,  and 
induced  him  to  give  the  proconsul  full  liberty  to  act 
as  he  thought  best.  Thus  empowered,  Piietus  at  once 
invaded  Commagene  in  force,  and  meeting  at  first  -with 


'  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  vii.  5,  §  2.        i      ^  Ibid.  vii.  7,  §  1. 


290  THE    SIXTH    MONAECHY,  [CH,  XVIL 

no  resistance  (for  the  Commagenians  were  either  in- 
nocent or  unprepared),  succeeded  in  occupying  Samo- 
sata  by  a  cou'p  de  main.  The  aged  king  wished  to 
yield  eveiything  without  a  blow ;  but  his  two  sons, 
Epiphanes  and  Callinicus,  were  not  to  be  restrained. 
They  took  arms,  and  at  the  head  of  such  a  force  as 
they  could  hastily  muster,  met  Psetus  in  the  field,  and 
fought  a  battle  with  him  which  lasted  the  whole  day, 
and  ended  without  advantage  to  either  side.  But  the 
decision  of  Antiochus  was  not  to  be  shaken ;  he  refused 
to  countenance  his  sons'  resistance,  and  quitting  Com- 
magene,  passed  with  his  wife  and  daughters  into  the 
Roman  province  of  Cilicia,  where  he  took  up  his 
abode  at  Tarsus.  The  spirit  of  the  Commagenians 
could  not  hold  out  against  this  defection  ;  the  force 
collected  began  to  disperse ;  and  the  young  princes 
found  themselves  forced  to  fly,  and  to  seek  a  refuge  in 
Parthia,  which  they  reached  with  only  ten  horsemen.^ 
Volagases  received  them  with  the  courtesy  and  hos- 
pitality due  to  their  royal  rank ;  but  as  he  had  given 
them  no  help  in  the  struggle,  so  now  he  made  no  effort 
to  reinstate  them.  All  the  exertion  to  which  he  could 
be  brouo-ht  was  to  write  a  letter  on  their  behalf  to 
Vespasian,^  in  which  he  probably  declared  them  guilt- 
less of  the  charges  that  had  been  brought  against 
them  by  Paetus.  Vespasian,  at  any  rate,  seems  to  have 
become  convinced  of  their  innocence ;  for  though  he 
allowed  Couuhagene  to  remain  a  Roman  province,  he 

'  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  vii.  7,  §2.  i  with  very  palpable  irony,  'Flavius 
'  This  may  possibly  have  been  the  Vespasianus  to  Arsaces,  King  of 
letter  to  which  Dio  Cassius  alludes  Kings,  sends  greeting.'  It  is,  how- 
(Ixvi.  11),  wherein  Volagases  ad-  ever,  on  the  whole  more  likely  that 
dressed  the  Roman  emperor  thus  : —  the  letter  with  this  heading  was 
'  Arsaces,  King  of  Kings,  to  Flavius  provoked  b}'  the  refusal  of  Vespasian 
Vespasianus,sends  greeting ' ;  where-  to  help  the  Parthian  monarch  against 
to  Vespasian  was  content  to  reply  \  the  Alani. 


CU.  XVII.]  VOLAGASES  ATTACKED  BY  THE  ALA2fL  291 

permitted  the  two  princes  with  their  father  to  reside  at 
Rome,  assigned  the  ex-monarch  an  ample  revenue, 
and  gave  the  family  an  honourable  status. 

It  was  proba]»ly  not  more  than  two  or  three  years 
after  the  events  above  narrated,^  that  Volagases  found 
himself  in  circumstances  which  impelled  him  to  send  a 
petition  to  the  Roman  Emperor  for  help.  The  Alani, 
a  Scythian  people,  who  had  once  dwelt  near  the 
Tanais^  and  the  Lake  Maeotis,  or  Sea  of  Azof,  but 
who  must  now  hav^e  lived  further  to  the  East,  had 
determined  on  a  great  predatory  invasion  of  the  coun- 
tries west  of  the  Caspian  Gates,  and  having  made 
alliance  with  the  Hyrcanians,  who  were  in  possession 
of  that  imj^ortant  pass,^  had  poured  into  Media  through 
it,  driven  King  Pacorus  to  the  mountains,  and  overrun 
the  whole   of  the    open   country.     From  hence   they 

'  A.D.  75.  I  the  south-east   corner   of  the   Cas- 

"  The   Alani   are   first  mentioned   pian,  and  their  passage  through  the 
by  Dionysius  the  Geographer  (b.c.    Gates     into      Media    and    Armenia 


30-10),  who  joins  them  with  the 
Daci  and  the  Tauri  {Perieg.  305, 
306),  and  again  places  them  be- 
tween the  latter  and  the  Agathyrsi 


equally  indicates  that  they  invaded 
those  countries  from  the  East. 
The  ethnology  of  the  Alani  has 
been  much  disputed.     Some  regard 


(308,  309).  A  similar  position  (in  them  as  Medes,  some  as  Teutons, 
the  south  of  Russia  in  Europe,  the  others  as  Turks  or  Fins.  It  is  in 
modern  Ukraine)  is  assigned  to  favour  of  their  Finnish  origin  that 
ihem  by  Pliny  {//.  N.  iv.  12,  §  25)  \  Alani  and  Rliox-alani  are  significant 
and  Josephus  {Bell.  Jud.  vii.  7,  §  4).  >  in  Finnish,  Alani  (nlaiii)  meaning 
Seneca  (T/tt/cist.  629)  places  them  I  '  men,' and  Rhox-alani  (;-;/o^«-f<^a/tt) 
further  west,  upon  the  Ister.  [  'red-haired  men.'  A  special  con- 
Ptolemy  has  two  bodies  of  Alani,  nexion  is  traced  between  the  Alani 
one  in  the  position  above  described,  ,  and  the  Os  or  Usethi  of  the  Cau- 
the    ether    in    Scythia    within     the    casus. 

Imaus,  north  and  partly  east  of  the  I  '  This  implies  a  development  of 
Caspian  (Geogmph.  ii.  14,  iii.  5,  Hyrcnnian  power  not  otherwise 
vi.  14).  It  must  have  been  from  recorded,  but  in  itself  not  impro- 
these  last,  the  successors,  and,  ac-  bable.  The  '  Gates  '  were  bej'ond 
cording  to  some  (Anmi.  Marc.  |  the  limits  of  Hyrcania  Proper,  but 
xxxi.  2),  the  descendants  of  the  closely  adjoined  upon  it.  and  would 
ancient  Massngetae,  that  the  Alani  |  be  likely  to  fall  into  tiie  hands  of 
ca,me  who  attacked  Pacorus  and  the  power  which  held  the  adjacent 
Tiridates.  Their  alliance  with  the  i  mountain-tract. 
Ilyrcaniims  shows  that  they  rounded  ' 


292 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.  XVII. 


had  passed  on  into  Armenia,  defeated  Tiridates  in  a 
battle,  and  almost  succeeded  in  capturing  him  by  means 
of  a  lasso.^  Volagases,  whose  subject-kings  were  thus 
rudely  treated,  and  who  might  naturally  expect  his 
own  proper  territories  to  be  next  attacked,  sent  in  this 
emei'gency  a  request  to  Vesj^asian  for  aid.  He  asked 
moreover  that  the  forces  put  at  his  disposal  should  be 
placed  under  the  command  of  either  Titus  or  Doraitian,^ 
probably  not  so  much  from  any  value  that  he  set  on 
their  military  talents,  as  from  a  conviction  that  if  a 
member  of  the  Imj)erial  family  was  sent,  the  force 
which  accompanied  him  would  be  considerable.  We 
are  told  that  the  question,  whether  help  should  be 
given  or  no,  was  seriously  discussed  at  Rome,  and  that 
Domitian  was  exceedingly  anxious  that  the  troops 
should  go,  and  begged  that  he  might  be  their  com- 
mander. But  Vespasian  w^as  disinclined  for  any  ex- 
penditure of  which  he  did  not  recognise  the  necessity, 
and  disliked  all  perilous  adventure.  His  own  refusal  of 
extraneous  support,  w^hen  offered  by  his  rival,  ren- 
dered it  possible  for  him  to  reject  Vohigases'  request 
without  incurring  the  charge  of  ingratitude.  The 
Parthians  were  thei'efore  left  to  their  own  resources; 
and  the  result  seems  to  have  been,  that  the  invaders, 
after  ravaging  and  harrying  Media  and  Armenia  at 
their  pleasure,  carried  off  a  vast  number  of  prisoners 
and  an  enormous  booty  into  their  own  country.^ 

Soon    after   this,  Volagases    must  have   died.     The 
coins  of  his  successor*  commence  in  June,  a.d.  78,  and 


'  Joseph.  B.  J.  vii.  7,  ?  2.  On  the 
use  of  the  lasso  by  Asiatics,  see 
Ilerod.  vii.  85;  Puu~an.  i.  21,§8; 
Siiidas,  ad  tax'.  Eeipd,  &c. 

-  Sueton.  Domit.  §  2.  Compare 
Dio  Cass.  Ixvi.  15. 


'  Joseph.  1.  s.  c. 

*  The  earhest  known  coin  of 
Pacorus  bears  date  OUT,  Anttr  ov. 
It  has  the  legend  [U']aK.opo  .  .  .  . 
(hiiaiov  [ij  TCKpavovli  ^t/le]/l/l7Vo[s]. 


Cri.  XVII.]        DEATH  AIS^D  CHARACTER  OF  VOLAGASES.       293 

thus  lie  cannot  liave  outlived  l)y  more  than  three  yeans 
the  iri'uption  of  the  Alani.  If  he  died,  as  is  most  pro- 
bable, in  the  spring  of  a.d.  78,  his  reign  would  have 
covered  the  space  of  twenty-seven  years.  It  was  an 
eventful  one  for  Parthia.  It  brought  the  second  period 
of  struggle  with  the  Romans  to  an  end  ^  by  a  compro- 
mise which  gave  to  Rome  the  shadow  and  to  Parthia 
the  substance  of  victory.  And  it  saw  the  first  com- 
pleted disintegration  of  the  Empire  in  the  successful 
revolt  of  Hyrcania—  an  event  of  evil  portent.  Yolagases 
was  undoubtedly  a  monarch  of  considerable  ability. 
He  conducted  with  combined  prudence  and  firmness 
the  several  campaigns  against  Corbulo ;  he  proved 
himself  far  superior  to  Partus;  exposed  to  attacks  in 
various  quarters  from  many  different  enemies,  he  re- 
pulsed all  foi'eign  invaders,  and,  as  against  them,  main- 
tained intact  the  ancient  dominions  of  the  Arsacidae. 
He  practically  added  xVrmenia  to  the  Empire.  Every- 
where success  attended  him,  except  against  a  domestic 
foe.  Hyrcania  seceded  during  his  reign,  and  it  may 
be  doubted  whether  Parthia  ever  afterwards  recovered 
it.  An  example  was  thus  set  of  successful  Arian  revolt 
against  the  hitherto  irresistible  Turanians,  which  may 
have  tended  in  no  slight  degree  to  produce  the  insur- 
rection which  eventually  subverted  the  Parthian  Empire. 
The  successor  of  Yolagases  I.  was  Pacorus,  whom 
most  writers  on  Parthian  histoiy  have  regarded  as  his 
son.^     There  is,  however,  no  evidence  of  this  relation- 


'  The  first  period  of  struggle,  in  !  terminated  ad.  63  by  Rome's  ac- 
which  either  state  sought  to  con-  ceptanoe  of  Tiriiiates.  This  was 
quer  territory  from  the  other,  lasted  followed  by  a  peace  which  lasted 
from  B.C.   55  to  36,  and   was   sue-    fifty-three   years  —from  a.d.  63    to 


oeeded  by  seventy  years  of  peac 
from  B.c  35  to  a.d.  35.  The 
second,  for  supremacy  over  Ar- 
menia,    commenced    a.d.    35,     and 


A.D.    115. 

-'  Vaillant,  Arsnc.  Imp.  p.  296 ; 
Plate  in  Smith's  Bfgr.  Did.,  vol.  i. 
p.  359  ;  Lewis,  History  of  the  Par- 


294 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.    XVIL 


sliip ;  and  the  chief  reason  for  regarding  Pacorus  as 
belonging  ev^en  to  the  same  branch  of  the  Arsacidse 
with  VoLagases  I.  is  his  youth  at  his  accession,  indi- 
cated by  the  beardless  head  upon  his  early  coins, 
which  is  no  doubt  in  favour  of  his 
having  been  a  near  relation  of  the 
preceding  king.  The  Parthian  coins 
show  that  his  reign  continued  at 
least  till  A.D.  93  ;  it  may  have  lasted 
considerably  longer,  for  the  earliest 
Coin  of  Paconis  II.  date  on  auy  coin  of  Chosroes  is 
^r.  Seleuc.  421,  or  a.d.  110.  The  accession  of  Chos- 
roes has  been  conjecturally  assigned  to  a.d.  108, 
which  would  allow  to  Pacorus  the  long  reign  of  thirty 
years.  Of  this  interval  it  can  only  be  said  that,  so 
far  as  our  knowledge  goes,  it  was  almost  wholly  un- 
eventful. We  know  absolutely  nothing  of  this  Pacorus, 
except  that  he  gave  encouragement  to  a  person  who 
pretended  to  l)e  Nero;  that  he  enlarged  and  beau- 
tified Ctesiphon  ;  ^  that  he  held  friendly  communica- 
tions with  Decebalus,  the  great  Dacian  chief,  who 
was  successively  the  adversary  of  Domitian  and  Tra- 
jan ;  and  that  he  sold  the  sovereignty  of  Osrhoen^ 
at  a  high  price  to  the  Edessene  prince  who  was  con- 
temporary with  him.  The  Pseudo-Nero  in  question 
appears  to  have  taken  refuge  with  the  Parthians  in  the 
year  a.d.  89,  and  to  have  been  demanded  as  an  im- 
postor by  Domitian.^     Pacorus  was  at  first  inclined  to 


thian    Empire,    p.    318.       Lindsay 
{Hidory  (tnd   Coinage,   p.    101)  sup; 
gests    that   he  was   not  the   son   of 
Volagases  I.,  but  his  pjrandson. 

'  Amni.  Marc,  xxiii.  (5.  '  Ctesi- 
phon, quam  .  .  .  rex  Pacorus,  in- 
coiarum  viril)us  aniplificataui  et 
moenibus,     Gryuco     indito    nomine, 


Persidis  effecit  specimen  sumnuim.' 
-  Sueton.  Neron.  §  57.  '  J)cnique, 
cum  post  viginti  annos,  adolescente 
me,  extitisset  conditionis  iucertae, 
(jui  se  Neronem  esse  jactaret,  tam 
favorabile  nomen  ejus  ajiud  Partho.s 
fuit,  ut  vehementcr  adjutus,  et  vix 
redditus  sit.'     The   'twenty  years' 


CII.  xvu.] 


REIGN    OF   PACORUS    II. 


295 


protect,  and  even  to  assist  him,  but  after  a  while  was 
induced  to  give  him  up,  prol>ably  by  a  thi-eat  of  hosti- 
lities. The  communication  with  the  Daciau  chief  was 
most  likely  earlier.  The  Dacians,  in  one  of  those  in- 
cursions into  McBsia  which  they  made  during  the  first 
years  of  Domitian,  took  captive  a  certain  Callidromus/ 
a  Greek,  if  we  may  judge  by  his  name,  slave  to  a 
Koman  of  some  rank,  named  Liberius  Maximus.  This 
prisoner  Decebalus  (we  are  told)  sent  as  a  present  to 
Pacorus,  in  whose  service  and  favour  he  remained  for 
a  number  of  years.  This  circumstance,  insignificant 
enough  in  itself,  acquires  an  interest  from  the  indication 
which  it  gives  of  intercommunication  between  the 
enemies  of  Rome,  even  when  they  were  separated  by 
vast  spaces,  and  might  have  been  thought  to  have  been 
wholly  ignorant  of  each  other  s  existence.  Decebalus 
can  scarcely  have  been  drawn  to  Pacorus  by  any  other 
attraction  than  that  which  always  subsists  between 
enemies  of  any  great  dominant  power.  He  must  have 
looked  to  the  Parthian  monarch  as  a  friend  who  might 
make  a  diversion  on  his  Ijehalf  upon  occasion  ;  and  that 
monarch,  by  accepting  his  gift,  must  be  considered  to 
have  shown  a  willingness  to  accept  this  kind  of 
relation. 

The  sale  of  the  Osrhoeue  territory  to  Abgarus  by 
Pacorus"  was  not  a  fact  of  much  consequence.  It 
may  indicate  an  exhaustion  of  his  treasury,  resulting 
from  the  expenditure  of  vast  sums  on  the  enlargement 
and  adornment  of  the  capital,  but  otherwise  it  has  no 
bearing   on   the    general    condition    of    the    Empire. 


of  this  passage,  dating  from  the 
death  of  Xero,  a.d.  69,  fix  the  ap- 
pearance of  tJtis  Pseudo-Xero  to  a.d. 
89,  the  ninth  year  of  Domitian. 


&c. 


Plin.   Ep.  X.  16.     '  Callidromum 
captum  a  Susago  in  Mccsia, 


*  Suidas  ad  voc.  uv/jt^. 


296 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.  XVIl. 


Perhaps  the  Parthian  feudatories  generally  paid  a  price 
for  their  investiture.  If  they  did  not,  and  the  case  of 
Abgarus  was  peculiar,  still  it  does  not  appear  that  his 
purchase  at  all  altei'ed  his  position  as  a  Parthian  sub- 
ject. It  was  not  until  they  transferred  their  allegiance 
to  Rome  that  the  Osrhoene  princes  struck  coins,  or 
otherwise  assumed  the  status  of  kings.  Up  to  the  time 
of  M.  Aurelius  they  continued  just  as  much  subject  to 
Parthia  as  before,  and  were  far  from  acquiring  a  posi- 
tion of  independence. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  reign  of  Pacorus 
was  a  good  deal  disturbed  by  internal  contentions. 
We  hear  of  an  Artabanus  ^  as  king  of  Parthia  in  a.d.  79  ; 
and  the  Parthian  coins  of  about  this  period  present  us 
with  two  very  marked  types  of  head,  both  of  them 
quite  unlike  that  of  Pacorus,^  which  must  be  those  of 
monarchs  who  either  contended  with  Pacorus  for  the 
crown,  or  ruled  contemporaneously  with  him  over 
other  portions  of  the  Parthian  Empire.  Again,  towards 
the  close  of  Pacorus's  reign,  and  early  in  that  of  his 
recognised  successor,  Chosroes,  a  monarch  called 
Mithridates  is  shown  by  the  coins  to  have  borne  sway 


'  Zonaras,  p.  578,  B.  The  date  is 
fixed  by  the  mention  imniedijitely 
afterwards  of  the  great  eruption  of 
Vesuvius  in  the  reign  of  Titus, 
whicli  belongs  to  ad.  79. 

'  One  of  these,  of  whom  there  is 


a  coin  in  the  Brit.  Mus.  dated  BOT, 
or  A.D.  80,  81,  is  thought  by  some  to 
be  the  Artabanus  of  Zonaras.  The 
other,  whose  head  is  entirely  dif- 
ferent, has  been  identitied  with  the 
Volagases  who  succeeded  Chosroes. 


Early  Coin  of  Volagaece  II. 


Coin  of  Mithridates  IV. 


CIT.  XVTI.]  DEATH    OF    PACORUS.  297 

for  at  least  six  3^ears — from  a.d.  107  to  118.  This 
monarch  commenced  the  practice  of  placing  a  Semitic 
legend  upon  his  coins/  which  would  seem  to  imply 
that  he  ruled  in  the  western  rather  than  the  eastern 
provinces.  The  probability  appears,  on  the  whole,  to 
be  that  the  disintegration  which  has  been  already 
noticed  as  havino;  commenced  under  Vola2:ases  I.  was 
upon  the  increase.  Three  or  four  monarchs  were 
ruling  together  in  different  portions  of  the  Parthian 
Avorld,  each  claiming  to  be  the  true  Arsaces,  and  using 
the  full  titles  of  Parthian  sovereignty  upon  his  coins. 
The  Romans  knew  but  little  of  these  divisions  and  con- 
tentions,^ their  dealings  being  only  with  the  Arsacid 
who  reigned  at  Ctesiphon  and  bore  sway  over  Mesopo- 
tamia and  Adiabene. 

Pacorus  must  have  died  about  a.d.  108,  or  a  little 
later.  He  left  behind  him  two  sous,  Exedares  and 
Parthamasiris,^  but  neither  of  these  two  princes  was 
allowed  to  succeed  him.  The  Parthian  Megistanes 
assigned  the  crown  to  Chosroes,  the  brother  of  their 
late  monarch,  perhaps  regarding  Exedares  and  Partha- 
masiris  as  too  young  to  administer  the  government  of 
Parthia  satisfactorily.  If  they  knew,  as  perhaps  they 
did,"*  that  the  long  period  of  peace  with  Rome  was 


'  This  legend    (iJ  i^l  8  h  J/i/h  «) 

is  read  as  f^»~Sj2  HT^riD  or  M/hoilat 
mnlcha,  i.e.  '  King  Miihridates.' 
(See  Numism.  Chron.  vol.  xi.  PI 
vii.  No.  4.)  Legends  in  the  same 
character  are  frequent  on  the  coins 
of  the  later  Parthian  kings. 

"  We    have,    however,   an   indica 
tion  of  them   in  Dio  Cassiiis,  who, 


of  Parthia  had  been  brought  low 
through  the  civil  wtvs,  and  there 
were  still  unsubdued  rebellions ' 
(Ixviii.  26). 

^  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.  17. 

^  Pacorus  had  had  occasion  before 
his  death  to  make  various  com- 
plaints to  Trajan  (Suidas  ad  voc. 
k-KLK'/rjiia).     This  would  imply    that 


spnaking    of    the    slight    resistance  I  Rome  had  already  taken  an  aggres- 
offered    to    Trajan   in    his   advance  I  sive  attitude,  and  was  preparing  the 
upon  Babj^lon,    says,   '  There    were    way  for  a  rupture, 
few  to  hinder  him,  since  the  power  | 


298  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  XVII. 

coming  to  an  end,  and  that  they  might  expect  shortly 
to  be  once  more  attacked  by  their  old  enemy,  they 
might  well  desire  to  have  upon  the  throne  a  prince  of 
ripe  years  and  approved  judgment.  A  raw  youth 
would  certainly  have  been  quite  unfit  to  cope  with 
the  age,  the  experience,  and  the  military  genius  of 
Trajan. 


CH.  XVllI.]  ACCESSION    OF    CHOSKOES.  299 


CHAPTER  XVIir. 

Beign  of  Ghosro'es.  General  condition  of  Oriental  Affairs  gives  a  handle  to 
Trajan.  Trajan  s  Schemes  of  Conquest.  Embassy  of  Chosroes  to  Trajan 
fails.  Great  Expedition  of  Trajan.  Campaign  of  a. d.  lib.  Campaign 
of  A.D.  116.  Death  of  Trajan,  and  relinquisliment  uf  his  Parthian  Con- 
quests hy  Hadrian.  Interview  of  Chosroes  with  Hadrian.  Its  Conse- 
quences.    Death  of  Chosroes  and  Accession  of  Volagnses  II. 

'Ad  ortum  solis,  cunctee  geutes  quae  iater  ludura  etEuphratem  amnes 
iuclytos  suut,  coucussaa  bello.' — Aurel.  Vict.  Hid.  %  13. 

The  general  state  of  Oriental  affairs  at  the  accession  of 
Chosroes  seems  to  have  been  the  following.  Upon  the 
demise  of  Tiridates  (about  a.d.  100)/  Pacorus  had 
established  upon  the  Armenian  throne  one  of  his  sons, 
named  Exedares,  or  Axidares,  and  this  prince  had 
thenceforth  reigned  as  king  of  Armenia  without  making 
any  application  to  Rome  for  investiture,  or  acknow- 
ledging in  any  way  the  right  of  the  Romans  to  inter- 
fere with  the  Armenian  succession.^  Trajan,  suffi- 
ciently occupied  in  the  West,^  had  borne  this  insult. 
When,  however,  in  a.d.  114,  the  subjugation  of  Dacia 
was  completed,  and  the  Roman  Emperor  found  his 
hands  free,  he  resolved  to  turn  his  arms  towards  Asia, 
and  to  make  the  Armenian  difficulty  a  pretext  for  a 


'  The  date  here  is  uncertain ;  and 
it  is  even  not  quite  clear  whether 
Exedares  was  placed  on  the  Arme- 
nian throne  by  Pacorus  or  Chosroes 


should  have  so  readily  deposed  him. 

'  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.  17. 

^  The      Dacian     War     occupied 
Trajan   from  a.d.    101  to  a.d.  100. 


It  .seems,  however,  scnrcely  likely  The  year  a.d.  107  was  spent  i 
that  Tiridates  should  hare  lived  much  .securing  possession  of  the  Dacian 
beyond  a.d.  IOd,  or  that  Chosroes,  territory.  ^Clinton,  F.  R.,  vol.  i 
if     he    had    established    Exedares,  .  pp.  88-94.) 


300  THE    SIXTH    MO^S^AECHY.  [CH.  XVIII. 

great  military  expedition,  designed  to  establish  nn- 
niistakal)ly  the  supremacy  of  Rome  throughout  the 
East.  The  condition  of  the  East  at  once  called  for  the 
attention  of  Rome,  and  was  eminently  favourable  for 
the  extension  of  her  influence  at  this  period.  Disin- 
tegrating forces  were  everywhere  at  work,  tending  to 
produce  a  confusion  and  anarchy  which  invited  the 
interposition  of  a  great  power,  and  rendered  resistance 
to  such  a  power  difficult.  Christianity,  which  was 
daily  spreading  itself  more  and  more  widely,  acted  as 
a  dissolvent  upon  the  previously-existing  forms  of 
society,  loosening  the  old  ties,  dividing  man  from  man 
by  an  irreconcilable  division,  and  not  giving  much 
indication  as  yet  of  its  power  to  combine  and  unite. 
Judaism,  embittered  by  persecution,  had  from  a  nation- 
ality become  a  conspiracy ;  and  the  disaffected  adherents 
of  the  Mosaic  system,  dispersed  through  all  the  countries 
of  the  East,  formed  an  explosive  element  in  the  popu- 
lation which  involved  the  constant  danger  of  a  cata- 
strophe.^ The  Parthian  political  system  was  also,  as 
already  remarked,  giving  symptoms  of  breaking  up. 
'J'hose  bonds  which  for  two  centuries  and  a  half  had 
sufficed  to  hold  together  a  heterogeneous  kingdom  ex- 
tending from  the  Euphrates  to  the  Indus,  and  from 
the  Oxus  to  the  Southei-n  Ocean,  were  beginning  to 
grow  weak,  and  the  Parthian  Empire  appeared  to  be 
falling  to  pieces.  There  seemed  to  be  at  once  a  call 
and  an  opportunity  for  a  fresh  arrangement  of  the 
East,  for  the  introduction  of  a  unifying  power,  such 
as  Rome  recognised  in  her  own  administrative  system, 
which  should  compel  the  crumbling  atoms  of  the 
Oriental  world  once  more  into  cohesion. 


'  Some    pood    remarks  on   these  i  Merivale's  Roman  Empire,  vol.  viii. 
subjects    will    be    found    in    Dean  I  pp.  134-153. 


CII.  XViri.]  PLANS    OF    TRAJAI^.  301 

To  this  call  Trajan  responded.  His  vast  ambition 
had  been  whetted,  rather  than  satiated,  by  the  conquest 
of  a  barljarous  nation,  and  a  single,  not  very  valuable, 
province.  In  the  East  he  might  hope  to  add  to  the 
Konian  State  half  a  dozen  countries  of  world-wide 
repute,  the  seats  of  ancient  empires,  the  old  homes  of 
Asiatic  civilisation,  countries  associated  with  the  im- 
mortal names  of  Sennacherib  and  Sardauapalus,  Cyrus, 
Darius,  and  Alexander.  The  career  of  Alexander  had 
an  attraction  for  him,  which  he  Avas  fain  to  confess ;  ^ 
and  he  pleased  himself  Ijy  imitating,  though  he  could 
not  hope,  at  his  age,  to  equal  it.  His  Eastern  expedi- 
tion was  conceived  very  much  in  the  same  spirit  as 
that  of  Crassus  ;  ^  but  he  possessed  the  military  ability 
in  which  the  Triumvir  was  deficient,  and  the  enemy 
whom  he  had  to  attack  was  o;rown  less  formidable. 

Trajan  commenced  his  Eastern  expedition  in  a.d.  114, 
seven  years  after  the  close  of  the  Dacian  War.  He 
was  met  at  Athens  in  the  autumn  of  that  year  by 
envoys  from  Chosroes,  who  brought  him  presents,  and 
made  representations  which,  it  was  hoped,  would 
induce  him  to  consent  to  peace.^  Chosroes  stated  that 
he  had  deposed  his  nephew,  Exedares,  the  Armenian 
prince  whose  conduct  had  been  offensive  to  Kome; 
and  proposed  that,  as  the  Armenian  throne  was  thereby 
vacant,  it  should  be  filled  by  the  appointment  of 
Parthamasii'is,  Exedares'  brother.  This  prince  would 
be  willing,  he  said,  to  receive  investiture  at  the  hands 
of  Rome  ;  and  he  requested  that  Trajan  would  transmit 
to  him  the  symbol  of  sovereignty.  The  accommoda- 
tion suggested  would  have  re-established  the  relations 
of  the  two  countries  towards  Armenia  on  the  basis  on 


'  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.  29.  I      '  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.  17. 

'^  See  above,  p.  1 50.  ' 


302  THE    SIXTH    MONAECHY.  [CH.  XVni. 

whicli  they  had  been  placed  by  the  agreement  between 
Volagases  and  Nero.  It  would  have  saved  the  credit 
of  Rome,  while  it  secured  to  Parthia  the  substantial 
advantage  of  retaining  Armenia  under  her  authority 
and  protection.  Trajan  might  well  have  consented  to 
it,  had  his  sole  object  been  to  reclaim  the  rights  or  to 
vindicate  the  honour  of  his  country.  But  he  had  dis- 
tinctly made  up  his  mind  to  aim,  not  at  the  re-estab- 
lishment of  any  former  condition  of  things,  but  at  the 
placing  of  matters  in  the  East  on  an  entirely  new  foot- 
ins;.^  He  therefore  o:ave  the  ambassadors  of  Chosroes 
a  cold  reception,  declined  the  gifts  offered  him,  and 
replied  to  the  proposals  of  accommodation,  that  the 
friendship  of  kings  was  to  be  measured  by  deeds  rather 
than  by  words — he  would  therefore  say  nothing,  but 
when  he  reached  Syria,  would  act  in  a  becoming 
manner.^  The  envoys  of  the  Parthian  monarch  wei'e 
obliged  to  I'eturn  with  this  unsatisfactory  answer ;  and 
Chosroes  had  to  wait  and  see  what  interpretation  it 
would  receive  from  the  course  of  events. 

Dui'ing  the  later  months  of  autumn,  Trajan  advanced 
from  Athens  to  Antioch.'^  At  that  luxui'ious  capital, 
he  mustered  his  forces  and  prepared  for  the  campaign 
of  the  ensuing  year.  Abgarus,  the  Osrhoene  prince 
who  had  lately  purchased  his  sovereignty  from 
Pacorus,**  sent  an  embassy  to  him  in  the  course  of  the 
winter,  with  presents  and  an  offer  of  friendship.^ 
Parthamasiris  also  entered  into  communications  with 
him,  first  assuming  the  royal  title,  and  then,  when  his 
letter  received  no  answer,  dropping  it,  and  addressing 


'  Dio  calls  the  Armenian  matter  a 

mere  pretext,  and  Trajan's  loveof<f]o- 

ry  the  real  causeof  the\var(txviii.l7). 

UiivTu      Ta      npoaiiKovTu      no'iTjaei 

(ibid.  1.  s.  c.) 


'  Clinton,  F.  R  vol.  i.  p.  98. 
*  Seu  above,  p.  294. 
''  Dio  Cass,  Ixviii.  18. 


CH.    XVIII.]  TRAJAN"   EJTTRAPS   PARTIIA5IASIRIS.  303 

the  Roman  Emperor  as  a  mere  private  person.^  Upon 
this  act  of  self-humiliation,  negotiations  were  com- 
menced. Partharaasiris  was  encouraged  to  present 
himself  at  the  Uoman  camp,  and  was  given  to  under- 
stand that  he  would  there  receive  from  Trajan,  as 
Tiridates  had  I'eceived  from  Nero,  the  emblem  of 
sovereignty  and  permission  to  rule  Armenia,  The 
military  preparatians  were,  however,  continued.  Vigo- 
rous measures  were  taken  to  restore  the  discipline  of 
the  Syrian  legions,  which  had  suffered  through  the 
long  tranquillity  of  the  East  and  the  enei'vating  in- 
fluence of  the  climate.^  With  the  spring  Trajan  com- 
menced his  mai'ch.  Ascending  the  Euphrates  to 
Samosata,  and  receiving  as  he  advanced  the  submission 
of  various  semi-independent  dynasts  and  princes,  he 
took  possession  of  Satala  and  Elegeia,  Armenian  cities 
on  or  near  the  Euphrates,  and  establishing  himself  at 
the  last-named  2:)lace,  waited  for  the  arrival  of  Partha- 
masiris.  That  prince  shortly  rode  into  the  Eoman 
camp,  attended  by  a  small  retinue ;  and  a  meeting  was 
arranged,  at  which  the  Parthian,  in  the  sight  of  the 
whole  Koman  army,  took  the  diadem  from  his  brows 
and  laid  it  at  the  feet  of  the  Roman  Emperor,  expect- 
ing to  have  it  at  once  restored  to  him.  But  Trajan 
had  determined  otherwise.  He  made  no  movement ; 
and  the  army,  prepared  no  doubt  for  the  occasion, 
shouted  with  all  their  mifjht,  salutins;  him  anew  as 
Imperator,  and  congratulating  him  on  his  '  bloodless 
victory.'^  Parthamasiris  felt  that  he  had  fallen  into  a 
trap,  and  would  gladly  have  turned  and  fled  ;  but  he 
found  himself  surrounded   by  the  Roman  troops  and 


'  Ibid.  ch.  19.  I      '  NiKTiv  uvaifiov  uvo/ia^ov  (Dio  Cass. 

^  Fronto,     Princip.    Hist,    in  his    Ixviii.  19). 
Opera  inedita,  vol.  ii.  p.  340.  1 


304 


THE    SIXTH    JMONARCHY. 


[CH.    XVIII. 


virtually  a  prisoner.  Upon  tliis  lie  demanded  a  private 
audience,  and  was  conducted  to  the  Emperors  tent, 
where  he  made  proposals  which  were  coldly  rejected, 
and  he  was  given  to  understand  that  he  must  regard 
his  crown  as  forfeited.  It  was  further  required  of  him 
that,  to  prevent  false  rumours,  he  should  present  him- 
self a  second  time  at  the  Emperor's  ti'ilnuial,  prefer  his 
requests  openly,  and  hear  the  Imperial  decision.  The 
Parthian  consented.  AVith  a  boldness  worthy  of  his 
hi2:h  descent,  he  affirmed  that  he  had  neither  been 
defeated  nor  made  prisoner,  l:>ut  had  come  of  his  own 
free  will  to  hold  a  conference  with  the  Roman  chief,  in 
the  full  expectation  of  receiving  from  him,  as  Tiridates 
had  received  from  Nero,  the  crown  of  Armenia,  con- 
fident, moreover,  that  in  any  case  he  would  suffer  no 
wrong,  l>ut  be  allowed  to  depart  in  safety.  Trajan 
answered  that  he  did  not  intend  to  give  the  crown  of 
Armenia  to  any  one — the  country  belonged  to  the 
Komans,  and  should  have  a  Roman  govei'uor.  As  for 
Parthamasiris,  he  was  free  to  go  whithersoever  he 
j)leased,  and  his  Parthian  attendants  might  accompany 
him.  The  Armenians,  however,  must  I'emain.  They 
were  Poman  subjects,  and  owed  no  allegiance  to 
Parthia.^ 

The  tale  thus  told,  with  no  appearance  of  shame,  by 
the  Roman  historian,  Dio  Cassius,  is  sufficiently  dis- 
graceful to  Trajan,  but  it  does  not  reveal  to  us  the 
entire  l)aseness  of  his  conduct.  We  learn  from  other 
writers,^  two  of  them  contemporary  with  the  events, 
that  the  pompous  dismissal  of  Parthamasiris  with  leave 
to    go    wherever    he    chose,    was    a    mere    pretence. 


'  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.  20. 
'  Eutrop.  Breviar.  viii.  3  ;  Fronto, 
Princip.  Hint.  vol.  ii.  p.  349 ;  Arrian, 


Fr.    16.      Fronto   and  Arrian  were 
contemporary  with  Trajan. 


CH.  xviil]  partha:masiris  killed.  305 

Trajan  had  come  to  the  conclusion,  if  not  before  the 
interview,  at  any  rate  in  the  course  of  it,  that  the 
youth  was  dangerous,  and  could  not  be  allowed  to  live. 
He  therefore  sent  troops  to  arrest  him  as  he  rode  off 
from  the  camp,  and  when  he  offered  resistance,  caused 
him  to  be  set  upon  and  slain.  This  conduct  he  after- 
wards strove  to  justify  by  accusing  the  young  prince  of 
having  violated  the  agreement  made  at  the  interview  ;^ 
but  even  the  debased  moral  sense  of  his  age  was  re- 
volted by  this  act,  and  declared  the  grounds  whereon 
he  excused  it  insufficient.  Good  faith  and  honour  had 
been  sacrificed  (it  was  said)  to  expediency^ — the  repu- 
tation of  Eome  had  been  tarnished — it  would  have 
been  better,  even  if  Parthamasiris  were  guilty,  to  have 
let  him  escape,  than  to  have  punished  him  at  the  cost 
of  a  pul)lic  scandal.^  So  strongly  was  the  disgrace 
felt,  that  some  (it  seems)  endeavoured  to  exonerate 
Trajan  from  the  responsibility  of  having  contrived  the 
deed,  and  to  throw  the  blame  of  it  on  Exedares,  the 
ex-king  of  Armenia  and  brother  of  Parthamasiris. 
But  Trajan  had  not  sunk  so  low  as  to  shift  his  fault  on 
another.  He  declared  openly  that  the  act  was  his 
own,  and  that  Exedares  had  had  no  part  in  it.'^ 

The  death  of  Parthamasiris  was  followed  by  the 
complete  suinnission  of  Armenia.^  Chosroes  made  no 
attempt  to  avenge  the  murder  of  his  nephew,  or  to 
contest  with  Trajan  the  possession  of  the  long-disputed 
territory.  A  little  doubt  seems  for  a  short  time  to 
have  been  entertained  by  the  Romans  as  to  its  disposal. 


*  'On  Trp'jro;  nnpnSaivcjv  rii  ^vyKci- 
fiEva  ETvxe  T7/C  SiKrji.   (Arrian,  1.  s.  c.) 

*  See  Fronto,  I.  s.  c. 

'  See  the  frag;ment  of  Arrian 
given  by  Suidas,  nd  roc.  yvwatc, 
which  consists  of  words  that  Arrian 


must  have  put  into  the  mouth  of 
Trajan  :  — Tlepl  HapOafjaalpnv  (^i.  ovy'i 
' A^ii^dpnv   elvai,  d/l/l'  iavTnv  ryv  yi-cbniv' 

oTi  TpCjToS,  K.T.^.  (See  above,  note  '.) 
*  Dio  Cass.  Isviii.  21, 


306  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    XYIII. 

The  rio;lit  of  Exedares  to  be  reinstated  in  liis  former 
kingdom  ^  was  declared  by  some  to  be  clear ;  and  it 
was  probably  urged  that  the  injuries  which  he  had 
suffered  at  the  hands  of  Chosroes  would  make  him  a 
sure  Koman  ally.  But  these  arguments  had  no  weight 
with  Trajan.  He  had  resolved  upon  his  course.  An 
end  should  be  put,  at  once  and  for  ever,  to  the  per- 
petual intrigues  and  troubles  inseparable  from  such 
relations  as  had  hitherto  subsisted  between  Rome  and 
the  Armenian  kino-dom.  The  Greater  and  the  Lesser 
Armenia  should  be  annexed  to  the  Empire,  and  should 
form  a  single  Koman  province.^  This  settled,  attention 
was  turned  to  the  nein-hbourino;  countries.  Alliance 
was  made  with  Anchialus,  king  of  the  Heniochi  and 
Macheloni,  and  presents  were  sent  to  him  in  return  for 
those  which  his  envoys  had  brouglit  to  Trajan,^  A 
new  king  was  given  to  the  Albanians,  Friendly  rela- 
tions were  established  with  the  chiefs  of  the  Iberi, 
Sauromat;©,  Colcbi,  and  even  with  the  tribes  settled  on 
the  Cimmerian  Bosphorus.*  The  nations  of  these  parts 
were  taught  that  Bome  was  the  power  which  the  in- 
habitants even  of  the  remote  East  and  North  had  most 
to  fear;  and  a  wholesome  awe  was  instilled  into  them 
which  would,  it  was  hoped,  conduce  to  tlie  general 
tranquillity  of  the  Empire. 

But  the  objects  thus  accomplished,  considerable  as 
they  were,  did  not  seem  to  the  indefcxtigable  Emperor 
sufficient  for  one  year.  Having  settled  the  affairs  of 
the  Noi'th-east,  and  left  garrisons  in  the  chief  Armenian 
strongholds,''  Trajan  nuirclied  southwards   to  Edessa, 


Arrian,    ap.    Suid.  ad   voc.     a/i. 

(bi'Aoyoi. 

'  Eutrop.  Brevinr.  viii.  2 ;  Hint. 
Miscell.  X.  3,  p.  20G  (ed.  Eyssen- 
hardt,  Beroliii.  18G8;. 


'  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.  19. 
*  Eutrop.  1.  s.  c;  Illst.  Misc.  1.  s.  c.  ; 
Plin.  /';;>.  X.  13-15. 
"  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.  21. 


oil.  XVin.]     ARMENIA  AND  MESOPOTAJMIA  CONQUERED.     307 

tlie  capital  of  tlie  province  of  Osrhoeiie,  and  there  re- 
ceived the  humble  submission  of  Abgarus,  who  had 
hitherto  wavered  between  the  two  contending  powers.^ 
Manisares,  a  satrap  of  these  parts,  ^vdio  had  a  quarrel 
of  his  own  with  Chosroes,  also  embraced  his  cause,'^ 
while  other  chiefs  wavered  in  their  alleo-iance  to 
Parthia,  but  feared  to  trust  the  invader.  Hostilities 
were  commenced  by  attacks  in  two  directions — south- 
ward against  the  tract  known  as  Anthemusia,  between 
the  Euphrates  and  the  Khabour ;  ^  and  eastward 
against  BatnaB,  Nisibis,  and  the  mountain  region 
known  as  Gordyene,  or  the  Mons  Masius.*  Success 
attended  both  these  movements  ;  and,  before  winter  set 
in,  the  Romans  had  made  themselves  masters  of  the 
whole  of  Upper  Mesopotamia,  and  had  even  pushed 
southwards  as  far  as  Singara,^  a  town  on  the  skirts  of 
tlie  modern  Sinjar  mountain-range.  Mesopotamia  was 
at  once,  like  Armenia,  ^  reduced  into  the  form  of  a 
Koman  province.'  Medals  were  issued  representing 
the  conqueror  with  these  .subject  countries  at  his  foot ;® 
and  the  obsequious  Senate  conferred  tne  title  of 
'  Parthicus '  upon  the  Imperator,''  who  had  thus  robbed 
the  Parthians  of  two  provinces. 

According   to    some,  the    head-quarters    of  Trajan 
dui-ing  the  ensuing  winter  were  at  Nisibis  or  Edessa,^ 


*  Dio  Cass.  (1.  s.  c.)  Compare  ch. 
18. 

»  Ibid.  ch.  22. 

*  Suidas  ad  voc.  iKpriyr/Gnvrni. 

*  The  captures  of  Nisibis  and 
Batnae  are  mentioned  by  Dio  (Ixviii. 
23j.     The  general  redaction  of  the 


*  See  a  representation  in  Vaillant's 
nint.  Aisac.  p.  812,  and  compare 
Eckhel,  Doct.  Num.  vol.  vi.  p.  438. 

"  Dio  Cass.  Isviii.  23. 

*  So  Defin  Merivale  {Bmn. 
Empire,  vol.  viii.  p.  102),  following 
Francke.       I    dilfer  with  reluctance 


Cardueni  (Kurds),  or  inliaV>itants  of    and   lie.^itation  ;  but,   on  the  whole, 


GordyCne.  is  attested  by  Eutropius 
(1.  s.  c.)  and  the  Ilktoria  Miscelbi 
(1.  s.  c). 

^  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.  23. 


Dio,  as  reported  by  Xiphilinus, 
seems  to  me  our  safest  guide  for  the 
general  course  of  the  events  of  this 
period. 


308  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.   XVIH 

but  the  nexus  of  the  narrative  in  Dio  seems  ratber  to 
require,  and  the  other  ancient  notices  to  allow,  the 
belief  that  he  returned  to  Syiia  and  wintered  at 
Antioch/  leaving  his  generals  in  possession  of  the 
conquered  regions,  with  orders  to  make  every  prepara- 
tion foi'  the  campaign  of  the  next  year.  Among  other 
instructions  which  they  received  was  the  command  to 
build  a  large  fleet  at  Nisibis,  where  good  timber  was 
abundant,^  and  to  prepare  for  its  transport  to  the 
Tigris,  at  the  point  where  that  stream  quits  tho  moun- 
tains and  enters  on  the  open  country.'^  Meai?\rhile,  in 
the  month  of  December,"*  the  magnificent  Syri-^ui  capital, 
where  Trajan  had  his  head-quarters,  was  risited  by  a 
calamity  of  a  most  appalling  character.  An  eavth- 
quake,  of  a  violence  and  duration  unexampled  in 
ancient  times,  destroyed  the  greater  part  of  its  edifices, 
and  buried  in  their  ruins  vast  multitudes  of  the  inhabit- 
ants and  of  the  strangers  that  had  flocked  into  ^-he 
town  in  consequence  of  the  Imperial  presence.  Many 
Romans  of  the  highest  rank  perished,  and  among  them 
M.  Virgilianus  Pedo,  one  of  the  consuls  for  the  year. 
The  Emperor  himself  was  in  danger,  and  only  escaped 
by  creeping  through  a  window  of  the  house  in  whi<ah 


'  T)io  flistinctly  places  the  earth- ]  a. d.  115,  or  in  December  of  that 
quake  at  Antioch  and  Trajan's  year,  it  would  equally  fall  within 
escape  irom  its  perils  at  the  close  of  Pedo's  consulate, 
the  campaign  of  ad.  115,  wliich  he  i  ^  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.  26.  ComparQ 
terrain  ites  with  the  captures  of  i  Taylor  in  Geogrnph.  Journal,  vol. 
Nisihis    and    Batnae    (Xii)hil.    Ej)it.  j  xxxv.  p.  56. 

Dion.  p.  24!>).     Malala  also  r..ssigns  [      ^  Kara    -6    Kdpihvov    opoS.       (Dio 
the  earthquake   tc  this  winter,  Dec.  |  Cass.  1.  s.  c.)    The  Cardunian  moun 


115  (xi.  p.  :550).  I  do  not  under- 
stand the  arpinncnt  of  (.linton,  that 
the  death  of  Pedo  (the  consul  of 
A.D.  115)  in  the  ciu-lhquake  proves 
it  to  have  occurred  in  the  preceding 
winter  {F.  II.  vol.  i.  p.  100).  Whe- 
ther the  earthquake  was  in  January, 


tain  of  Dio  is  the  Moiia  Masius  of 
iStrabo,  which  runs  parallel  with  the 
course  of  the  Uppir  Tigri;-'.  from 
Diarbekr  toTilleh,  and  me«ts  tho 
river  at  Jezireh. 

■*  Joh.  Mdal.  1.  s.  c. 


CH.  XVIII.]  GREAT  EARTHQUAKE  AT  ANTIOCII.  309 

he  resided  ;  nor  wae  his  person  quite  unscathed.  Some 
falling  fragments  struck  him ;  but  fortunately  the 
injuries  that  he  received  were  slight,  and  had  no  per- 
manent consequence :  The  bulk  of  the  surviving  in- 
habitants, finding  themselves  houseless,  or  afraid  to 
enter  their  houses  if  they  still  stood,  l)ivouacked  during 
the  height  of  the  winter  in  the  open  air,  in  the  Circus, 
and  elsewhere  about  the  city.  The  terror  which  legi- 
timately followed  from  the  actual  perils  was  heightened 
by  imaginary  fears.  It  was  thought  that  the  Mous 
Casius,  which  towers  above  Antioch  to  the  south-west, 
was  about  to  be  shattered  by  the  violence  of  the  shocks, 
and  to  precipitate  itself  upon  the  ruined  town.-' 

Nor  were  the  horrors  of  the  catastrophe  confined  to 
Antioch.  The  earthquake  was  one  of  a  sei'ies  which 
carried  destruction  and  devastation  through  the  greater 
part  of  the  East.  In  the  Koman  province  of  Asia,  four 
cities  were  completel}^  destroyed — Eleia,  Myrina,  Pitane, 
and  Cyme.  In  Greece,  two  towns  were  reduced  to 
ruins,  namely.  Opus  in  Locris,  and  Oritus.  In  Galatia 
three  cities,  unnamed,  suffered  the  same  fate.^  It 
seemed  as  if  Providence  had  determined  that  the  new 
glories  which  Rome  was  gaining  by  the  triumphs  of 
her  arms  should  be  obscured  by  calamities  of  a  kind 
that  no  human  power  could  avert  or  control,  and  that 
despite  the  efforts  of  Trajan  to  make  his  reig^n  a  time 
of  success  and  splendour,  it  should  go  down  to  posterity 
as  one  of  gloom,  suffering,  and  disaster. 

Trajan,  however,  did  not  allow  himself  to  be  diverted 
from  the  objects  tliat  he  had  set  before  him  by  such 
trifling  matters  as  the  suffenngs  of  a  certain  number  of 


Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.  24.  2.5.  i  Euseb.    Chron.    Can.    ii.    pp.    .380, 

Hist.  Misc.   X.   5;  Oros.  vii.  12;' 381. 


810  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [C'lT.    XVITI. 

provincial  towns.  With  the  approncli  of  spring  (a.d. 
116)  he  was  up  and  doing.^  His  officers  had  obeyed 
his  orders,  and  a  fleet  had  V)een  built  at  Tvisibis  during 
the  winter  amply  sufficient  for  the  purpose  for  which  it 
was  wanted.  The  ships  were  so  constructed  that  they 
could  be  easily  taken  to  pieces  and  put  together  again. 
Trajan  had  them  conveyed  on  wagons  to  the  Tigris  at 
Jezireh,^  and  there  proceeded  to  make  preparations  for 
passing  the  river  and  attacking  Adiabene.  By  em- 
barking on  board  some  of  his  ships  companies  of  heavy- 
armed  and  archers,  who  protected  his  woi-ki ng  parties, 
and  at  the  same  time  thi'eateuing  with  other  ships  to 
cross  at  many  different  points,  he  was  able,  though 
with  much  difficulty,  to  bridge  the  stream  in  the  face 
of  a  powerful  body  of  the  enemy,  and  to  land  his 
troops  safely  on  the  opposite  l)ank.  This  done,  his 
work  was  more  than  half  accomplished.  Chosroes 
remained  aloof  from  the  war,  either  husbanding  his 
resources,  or  perhaps  occupied  by  civil  feuds,^  and  left 
the  defence  of  his  outlying  provinces  to  their  respective 
governors.  Mebarsapes,  the  Adiabenian  monarch,  had 
set  his  hopes  on  keeping  the  invader  out  of  his  king- 
dom by  defending  the  line  of  the  Tigris,  and  Avhen 
that  was  forced,  he  seems  to  have  des[)aired,  and  to 
have  made  no  further  effort.  His  towns  and  strong- 
holds were  taken  one  after  another,  without  their 
offering  any  serious  resistance.  Nineveh,  Arbela,  and 
Gaugamala  fell  into  the  enemy's  hands.  AdenystnB,  a 
place  of  great  strength,  was  captured  by  a  small  knot 


'  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.  2fi.  I  sets  them  forth  more  at  hirgc.     His 

^  See  above,  p.  -308,  note  '.  account   of  them,    however,  cannot 

'  These  are  alhided  to  \>y  Dio  at '  be  accepted,  since  it  contradicts  Dio 

the  close  of  ch.    2fi.     A  passa'je  in    and  Victor. 

John  of  Malala  {Chron.    xi.  p.  27:}) 


CH.  XVIII.]  CAMPAIGNS"    OF    A.D.    116.  311 

of  Koman  prisoners,  wlio,  an  lien  they  found  their  friends 
near,  rose  upon  the  garrison,  killed  the  commandant, 
and  opened  the  gates  to  their  countrymen.^  In  a 
shoii:  time  the  whole  tract  between  the  Tigris  and  the 
Zagros  mountains  was  overrun  ;  resistance  ceased  ;  and 
the  invader  was  able  to  proceed  to  further  conquests. 

It  might  have  been  expected  that  an  advance  would 
have  at  once  been  directed  on  Ctesiphon,  the  Parthian 
capital ;  but  Trajan,  for  some  reason  which  is  not  made 
clear  to  us,  determined  otherw^ise.  He  repassed  the 
Tigris  into  Mesopotamia,  took  Hatra  ^  (now^  el-Hadhr), 
at  that  time  one  of  the  most  considerable  places  in 
those  parts,  and  then  crossing  to  the  Euphrates,  de- 
scended its  course  to  Hit  ^  and  Babylon.  No  resistance 
was  offered  him,  aud  he  became  master  of  the  mighty 
Babylon  without  a  blow.  Seleucia  seems  also  to  have 
submitted ;  ^  and  it  remained  only  to  attack  and  take 
the  capital  in  order  to  have  complete  possession  of  the 
entire  region  watered  by  the  two  great  rivers.  For 
this  purpose  a  fleet  was  again  necessary,  and,  as  the 
ships  used  on  the  upper  Tigris  had,  it  would  seem, 
been  abandoned,'^  Trajan  conveyed  a  flotilla,  which  had 

*  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.  22.  This  frag-  ]  ^  Few  writers  notice  the  employ- 
ment is  misplaced  in  Fabricius's  j  ment  by  Trajan  of  two  fleets,  one 
generally  excellent  edition  of  Dio  oa  each  river  ;  and  not  one  attempts 
(Hambui-f^,  1752).  It  belongs  to  '  to  account  for  the  transfer  of  the 
the  period  covered  by  ch.  2G.  Euphrates  fleet  to  the  Tigris  whea 

^  The  capture  of  ITatra  is  implied  there  was  already  a  flotilla  upon 
in  the  mention  of  its  revolt  (Dio  the  latter  stream.  Fabricius  alone 
Cass.  Ixviii.  31).  i  notices  the  difficulty  (note  on  §  172). 

^  Ibid.   ch.    27.       The    only   bitu-    I  should   imag-ine  that  the  artificial 
men-pits   in    Babylonia  are   at    Hit 
(the  '15  of  Herodotus,  i.  179). 

*  Dean  Merivale  supposes  Seleu- 
cus  to  have  held  out  after  the  fall 
of  Ctesiphon  (Rom.  Empire,  vol. 
vii.  p.  163),  and  says  its  reduction 
was  left   to  Trajan's  generals.     To 

me  this  seems  unlikely,   and  I  find    size  appears  from  .Arrian,  Fr.  I'J 
no  auMioritv  fr.'  the  statement.  I 


dams  and  natural  reefs  whicli  cross 
the  bed  of  the  Tiijris  between 
Mosul  and  Tekrit  (Layard,  Nin. 
and  Bdhylon,  p.  406)  rendered  the 
descent  of  the  vessels  in  the  later 
months  of  summer  impracticable. 
That   the   ves.sels   were   of  a  larse 


312  THE    SIXTH    jrONARClIY.  [cil.  XVIIl. 

descended  tlie  Euphrates,  across  Mesopotamia  on  rollers, 
and  launching  it  upon  the  Tigris,  proceeded  to  the 
attack  of  the  great  metropolis.*  Here  again  the  resist- 
ance that  he  encountered  was  trivial.  Like  Bal)3don 
and  Seleucia,  Ctesiphon  at  once  opened  its  gates.  The 
monarch  had  departed  Avith  his  family  and  his  chief 
treasures,^  and  had  placed  a  vast  space  between  himself 
and  his  antagonist.  He  was  pre2:>ared  to  contend  with 
his  Roman  foe,  not  in  Itattle  array,  but  l)y  means  of 
distance,  natural  obstacles,  and  guerilla  warfare.  He 
had  evidently  determined  neither  to  risk  a  battle,  nor 
stand  a  siege.  As  Trajan  advanced,  he  retreated, 
seeming  to  yield  all,  but  no  doubt  intending,  if  it 
should  be  necessary,  to  turn  to  bay  at  last,  and  in  the 
meantime  diligently  fomenting  that  spii-it  of  discontent 
and  disaffection  which  was  shortly  to  render  the  further 
advance  of  the  Imperial  troops  impossible. 

But,  for  the  moment,  all  appeared  to  go  well  with 
the  invaders.  The  surrender  of  Ctesijdion  brought 
with  it  the  submission  of  the  whole  region  on  the 
lower  courses  of  the  great  rivers,  and  gave  the  con- 
queror access  to  the  waters  of  a  new  sea.  Trajan  may 
be  excused  if  he  overrated  his  successes,  regarded  liim- 
self  as  another  Alexander,  and  deemed  that  the  great 
monarchy,  so  long  the  rival  of  Rome,  was  now  at  last 
swept  away,  and  that  the  entire  East  was  on  the  point 
of  being  absorbed  into  the  Roman  Empire.  The 
capture  by  his  lieutenants  of  the  golden  throne  of  the 
Parthian  kings  may  well  have  seemed  to  him  emblem- 
atic of  this  change  ;  and  the  flight  of  Chosroes  into  the 


'  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.  ?,8. 

'  'I'his  appears  from  the  capture 
of  his  (l;iu;:;hter  and  his  golden 
thron  ■  ;    which   were   taken   by  the 


Romans  who  went  in  pursuit  of 
him,  at  Susa.  (See  Spartian.  Iladr. 
§  13;   Capit.  Ant.  Pi.  §  9,  &c.) 


CH.  x^^iil]    trajai^  forced  to  retreat. 


313 


remote  and  barbarous  regions  of  the  far  East  may  Lave 
helped  to  lull  his  adversary  into  a  feeling  of  complete 
security.  Such  a  feeling  is  implied  in  the  pleasure 
voyage  of  the  conqueror  down  the  Tigris  to  the  Persian 
Gulf,  in  his  embarkation  on  the  waters  of  the  Southern 
Sea,  in  the  inquiries  which  he  instituted  with  respect 
to  Indian  affairs,  and  in  the  regret  to  which  he  gave 
utterance,  that  his  advanced  years  prevented  him  from 
making  India  the  term  of  his  labours,-^  No  shadow  of 
his  coming  troubles  seems  to  have  flitted  before  the 
eyes  of  the  Emperor  during  the  weeks  that  he  was 
thus  occupied — weeks  which  he  passed  in  self-com- 
placent contemplation  of  the  past  and  dreams  of  an 
impossible  future. 

Suddenly,  tidings  of  a  most  alarming  kind  dispelled 
his  pleasing  visions,  and  roused  him  to  renewed  exer- 
tions. Revolt,  he  found,  had  broken  out  everywhere 
in  his  rear.  At  Seleucia,  at  Hatra,  at  Nisibis,  at 
Edessa,^  the  natives  had  flown  to  arms  ;  his  entire  line 
of  retreat  was  beset  by  foes,  and  he  ran  a  risk  of  having 
his  return  cut  off,  and  of  perishing  in  the  land  which 
he  had  invaded,  Trajan  had  hastily  to  retrace  his 
steps,  and  to  send  his  generals  in  all  directions  to  check 
the  spread  of  insurrection.  Seleucia  was  recovered  by 
Erucius  Clarus  and  Julius  Alexander,  wdio  punished  its 
rebellion  by  delivering  it  to  the  flames,  Lucius 
Quietus  retook  Nisibus,  and  plundered  and  burnt 
Edessa.  Maxim ns,  on  the  contrary,  was  defeated  and 
slain  by  the  rebels,^  who  completely  destroyed  the 
Roman  army  under  his   orders.*      Trajan,  perceiving 


'  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.  28  and  29. 
■'  Ibid.  chs.  30  and  31. 
=  Ibid.  ch.  30. 


*  Fronto.    Princip.    Hist.    p.   338. 
'Legatus  cum  exercitu  ciesus.' 


314  THE    SIXTH    MONAKCIiy.  [CH.  XVIII. 

how  slight  his  hold  was  upon  the  conquered  popula- 
tions, felt  compelled  to  change  his  policy,  and,  as  the 
only  mode  of  pacifying,  even  temporarily,  the  growing 
discontent,  instead  of  making  Lower  Mesopotamia  into 
a  Roman  province,  as  he  had  made  Armenia,  Upper 
Mesopotamia,  and  Adiabene  (or  Assyria),  he  proceeded 
with  much  pomp  and  display  to  set  up  a  native  king. 
The  prince  selected  was  a  certain  Parthamaspates,  a 
member  of  the  royal  family  of  the  Arsacidae,  who  had 
previously  sided  with  Rome  against  the  reigning 
monarch.^  In  a  plain  near  Ctesiphon,  where  he  had 
had  his  tril:)unal  erected,  Ti'ajan,  after  a  speech  wherein 
he  extolled  the  greatness  of  his  own  exploits,  presented 
to  the  assembled  Romans  and  natives  this  youth  as 
King  of  Pai'thia,  and  with  his  own  hand  placed  the 
diadem  upon  his  brow.^ 

Under  cover  of  the  popularity  acquired  by  this  act 
the  aged  Emperor  now  commenced  his  retreat.  The 
line  of  the  Tigris  was  no  doubt  open  to  him,  and  along 
this  he  might  have  marched  in  peace  to  Upper  Meso- 
potamia or  Armenia  ;  but  either  he  preferred  the  direct 
route  to  Syria  by  way  of  Hatra  and  Singara,  or  the 
insult  offered  to  the  Roman  name  by  the  independent, 
attitude  which  the  people  of  the  former  place  still' 
maintained  induced  him  to  divei'ge  fi'om  the  general 
line  of  his  course,  and  to  enter  the  desert  in  order  to 
chastise  theii*  presumption.  Hatra  was  a  small  town, 
but  strongly  foi-tified.  The  iidiabitants  at  this  time 
belonged^  to  that   Arabian    immigration    which    was 


'  This    is    so   probable,    that    we 
may  accept  the  evidence  of  John  of 


'  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.  30. 

=■  Ibid.     Ixviii.     31.       MbtH 


Malala  on  tiie  point  (1.  s.  c),  not- 1  £  S  ryv  '\pa3iav  ylOt  kuI  roi? 
withstanding  the  general  untrust-  ' Arpr/vni^  fTrrxFiprine.  (Compare  Ixxv. 
worlliines-;  of  his  narntive.  !  11,  12  ;  Herodian,  iii.  28,  &c.) 


CII.  XVIII.]  TKAJAX    REPULSED    FKOM    UATEA.  315 

always  more  and  more  eiicroacliiug  upon  Mesopotamia. 
They  were  Parthian  subjects,  but  appear  to  have  had 
tlieir  own  native  kings.^  On  the  approach  of  Trajan, 
nothing  daunted,  they  closed  their  gates,  and  ^irepared 
themselves  for  resistance.  Though  he  Ijattered  down  a 
portion  of  the  wall,  they  repulsed  all  the  attempts  of 
his  soldiers  to  enter  through  the  breach,  and  when  he 
himself  came  near  to  reconnoitre,  they  drove  him  off 
with  their  arrows.  His  ti'oops  suffered  from  the  heat, 
from  the  want  of  provisions  and  fodder,  from  the 
swarms  of  flies  which  disputed  with  them  every  morsel 
of  their  food  and  every  drop  of  their  drink,  and  finally 
from  violent  hail  and  thunderstorms,  Trajan,  was 
forced  to  withdraw  after  a  time  without  effecting  any- 
thing, and  to  own  himself  l)afS.ed  and  defeated  by  the 
garrison  of  a  petty  fortress,^ 

The  year,  a,d,  11  G,  seems  to  have  closed  with  this 
memorable  failure.  In  the  following  spring,  Chosroes, 
learning  the  retreat  of  the  Komans,  returned  to 
Ctesiphon,  expelled  Parthamaspates,  who  retired  into 
Ivoman  territory,  and  re-established  his  authority  in 
Susiana  and  Southern  Mesopotamia,^  The  liomans, 
however,  still  held  Assyria  (Adiabene)  and  Upper 
Mesopotamia,  as  well  as  Armenia,  and  had  the  strength 
of  the  Empire  l>e3n  exerted  to  maintain  these  posses- 
sions, they  might  have  continued  in  all  probability  to 
l)e  Koman  provinces,  despite  any  eflPbrts  that  Parthia 
could  have  made  to  recover  them.  But  in  August, 
A.D.  117,  Trajan  died  ;  and  his  successor,  Hadrian,  was 
deeply  impressed  witli  the  opinion  that  Trajan's  con- 
quests had  been  impolitic,  and  that  it  was  unsafe  for 


'  Herodian.  iii.  1.  I  about   to  make    another    expedition 

"^  Dio  Cass.  1.  s.  c.  i  into    Southern    Meso;iotaniia.    when 

^  Ibid.    Ixviii.    3:3.       Trajan    was    his  last  ilhiess  prevented  him. 


316 


THE    SIXTH    MOIN^ARCIIY. 


[cii. 


XVIIIc 


Home  to  attempt  under  the  circumstances  of  tlie  time 
any  extension  of  the  Eastern  frontier.  The  first  act  of 
Hadrian  was  to  relinquish  the  three  provinces  which 
Trajan's  Parthian  war  had  added  to  the  Empire,  and  to 
withdraw  the  legions  Avithin  the  Euphrates.-^  Assyria 
and  Mesopotamia  were  at  once  re-occupied  by  the  Par- 
thians.  Armenia  appears  to  have  been  made  over  by 
Hadrian  to  Parthamaspates,^  and  to  have  thus  returned 
to  its  former  condition  of  a  semi-independent  kingdom, 
leaning  alternately  on  Rome  and  Parthia.  It  has  been 
asserted  that  Osrhoene  was  placed  likewise  upon  the 
same  footing  ;  ^  but  the  numismatic  evidence  adduced 
in  favour  of  this  view  is  weak  ;^  and  upon  the  whole 
it  appears  most  probalile  that,  like  the  other  Mesopo- 
tamian  counti'ies,  Osrhoene  again  fell  under  the  domi- 
nion of  the  Arsacida?.  Rome  therefore  gained  nothing 
by  the  great  exertions  which  she  had  made,^  unless  it 
were  a  partial  recovery  of  her  lost  influence  in  Arme- 
nia, and  a  knowledge  of  the  grooving  weakness  of  her 
Eastern  rival — a  knowledge  which,  tliongh  it  produced 
no  immediate  fruit,  was  of  importance,  and  was  borne 
in  mind  when,  after  another  half-century  of  peace,  the 
relations  of  the  two  empires  became  once  more  un- 
satisfactory .  ' 
The  voluntary  withdrawal  of  Hadrian  from  Assyria 
and    Mesopotamia     placed     him    on     amicable    terms 


'  Eutrop.  Breviar.  viii.  3 ;  Hint. 
MiHccll.  X.  7. 

^  ^1.  Spai-t.  ILidrinn.  §  5.  Spar- 
tian  by  mistake  calls  him  Partamo- 
siris. 

'  Sec  Vaillant.  IliHt.  Arsac.  p.  310. 

■•  There  is,  1  believe,  only  a  single 
coin  whicVi  is  thought  to  s  ipport 
the  view  that  Osrhoeni'  became  a 
kingdom  dcpeiulent  on  the  Romans 


at  the  accession  of  Hadrian.     This 

is  described  by  Eckhel  (I)oct.  Nnm. 
vol.  lii.  p.  r)l2)  and  Miotinet  (2>e- 
scriptlon  d>'.  Mt'ddillca.,  vol.  v.  p.  613), 
who  both  view  it  with  suspicion. 

'  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.  33.  Ohru  filv 
n'i  'Pu/ialoi,  Tr/i  re  'Apfisvlai  koI  rf/i 
'Ms'Tonora/na?  7^5  7r2.ei.ovoS  tuv  tc  Tlilp- 
Oor  KpaTTjrravTei,  finT7]V  I  n  6vr)  a  av 
K  a)  uiiT  7]  V  EKivdvvevaa^J. 


CH.  XVIII.]     HADltlAN  GIVES  UP  TRAJAn's  CONQUESTS.     317 

with  Partliia  during  the  whole  of  liis  reign.  Chosroes 
and  his  successor  could  not  but  feel  themselves  under 
obligations  to  the  monarch  who,  without  being  forced 
to  it  by  a  defeat,  had  restored  to  Parthia  the  most 
valuable  of  her  provinces.  On  one  occasion  alone  do 
we  hear  of  any,  even  threatened,  interruptii:)n  of  the 
friendly  relations  subsisting  l)et\veen  the  two  powers ; 
and  then  the  misunderstanding,  whatever  it  may  have 
])een,  was  easily  rectified  and  peace  maintained.  Ha- 
drian, in  A.I).  122,  had  an  interview  with  Chosroes  on 
his  eastern  frontiei-,  and  l)y  personal  explanations  and 
assurances  averted,  we  are  told,^  an  impending  out- 
break. ]S"ot  long  afterwards  (a.d.  130,  probably)  he 
returned  to  Chosroes  the  daughter  who  liad  been  cap- 
tured b)^  Ti'ajan,  and  at  the  same  time  promised  the 
restoration  of  the  golden  throne,^  on  which  the  Parthians 
appear  to  have  set  a  special  value.    . 

It  must  have  been  soon  after  he  received  back  his 
daugliter  that  Chosroes  died.  His  latest  coins  bear  a 
date  equivalent  to  a.d.  128  ;  '^  and  the  Roman  historians 
give  Yolagases  II.  as  king  of  Parthia  in  a.d.  133.^  It  has 
been  generally  supposed  that  this  prince  was  Chosroes' 
son,  and  succeeded  him  in  the  natural  course;^  but 
the  evidence  of  the  Parthian  coins  is  strons^  as^ainst 
these  suppositions.  According  to  them,  Volagases  had 
been  a  pretender  to  the  Parthian  throne  as  early  as 


*  ^1.  Si>art.  Hadrian.  §  12,  ad  fin.  "  Dio  Cass.  Ixix.   15  ;  Xiphil.  Ep. 

^  Ibid.  I  13.  Dion.  xv.  (p.  1U). 

'A  coin  of  Chosroes  in  the  Brit.  M'aillaiit,    Hist.    Arme.    p.    323; 

Museum  bears  the  date  GAT,  which  Eckhel,     Doctr.    Num.    vol.    lii.    p. 

corresponds  to  A.D.  127-8.       A  coin  .537;   Lewis,    Hi.^t.    of  the  Parthian 

ascribed    to   Vohigases   11.    by   Mr.  Empire,    p     332 ;   Lindsay,    History 

Lindsay,    with  the   date  HMY  (a.d.  and     Coinag\     p.      lir>;     Plate    in 

130-7),  has  a  head  exactly  like  that  Smith's  Did.  of  Greek  and  Roman 

of  Chosroes  upon  it.     (See  Lindsay,  Biography.,  vol.  i.  p.  359. 

PI.  ix.  No.  77.)  I 


318  THE    SIXTH    MONATICIIY.  [cil.    XVII I. 

A.D.  78,  and  had  struck  coins  botli  in  that  year  and 
the  following  one,  about  the  date  of  the  accession  of 
Pacorus,  His  attempt  had,  however,  at  that  time 
failed,  and  for  forty- one  years  he  kept  his  pretensions 
in  abeyance  ;  but  about  a.d.  119  or  120  he  appears  to 
have  again  come  forward,  and  to  have  disputed  the 
crown  with  Chosroes,  or  reigned  contemporaneously 
with  him  over  some  portion  of  the  Parthian  kingdom, 
till  about  A.D.  130,  when — probaljly  on  the  death  of 
Chosroes — he  was  acknowledged  as  sole  king  by  the 
entire  nation.  Such  is  the  evidence  of  the  coins, 
which  in  this  case  are  very  peculiar,  and  bear  the 
name  ot  Yolasrases  from  first  to  last.^  It  seems  to 
follow  from  them  that  Chosroes  was  succeeded,  not 
by  a  son,  but  by  a  rival,  an  old  claimant  of  the 
crown,  wdio  cannot  have  been  much  younger  than 
Chosroes  himself. 


^  The  usual  legend  on  a  tetra-  i  <I>IAEAAHN0S.  His  drachms  bear 
drachm  of  Volagases  II.  is  BASI-  |  ahiiost  universally  the,  inscription 
AEfiS  BA2;iAE12N  AP2AK0T  OAA- I  JLlVl  X)  V^ll,  or  ^jn'^Q  W^^l- 
rA20Y        AIKAIOT       EIII^ANOTS  '  Tolffa^u.  Malcha,  '  King  Volagases.' 


CH.  XIX.]  ACCESSION   OF   VOLAGASES  IL  319 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Reign  of  Volagases  II.  Invasion  of  the  Alani.  Communications  between 
Volagases  and  Antoninus  Pius.  Death  of  Volagases  II.  and  Accession  of 
Volagases  III.  Aggressive  War  of  Volagases  III.  on  Rome.  Cam- 
paign of  A.D.  162.  Verus  sent  to  the  East.  Sequel  of  the  War.  Losses 
suffered  l>y  Parthia.     Death  of  Volagases  III. 

'Parthicum  bellum,   quod  Volagessus  .  .  .  iudixit.' 

Jul.  Capit.  M.  Antonin.  §  8. 

Volagases  II.  appears  to  have  occupied  tbe  Parthian 
throne,  after  the  death  of  Chosroes,  for  the  space  of 
nineteen  years.  His  reign  has  a  general  character  of 
tranquillity,  which  agrees  well  with  the  advanced  pe- 
riod of  life  at  which,  according  to  the  coins,  he  first 
became  actual  king  of  Parthia.^  It  was  disturbed  by 
only  one  actual  outbreak  of  hostilities,  an  occasion 
upon  which  Volagases  stood  upon  the  defensive  ;  and 
on  one  other  occasion  was  for  a  brief  period  threat- 
ened with  disturbance.  Otherwise  it  seems  to  have 
been  wholly  peaceful.  So  far  as  appears,  no  pretenders 
troubled  it.  The  coins  show,  for  the  years  between 
A.D.   130  and  a.d.   149,  the  head  of  but  one  monarch, 


'If  we  allow  Volagises  to  have  of  the  Parthian  crown  (a.d.  77-8), 
been  i  ven  twenty  year?*  of  age  when  hn  must  have  been  seventy-two  at 
he  fiist  came  forward  as  a  claimant ;  the  death  of  Chosroijs  in  a.d.  130. 


320 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH. 


XIX. 


a  head  of  a  marked  type,  which  is  impossible  to  be 
mistaken.^ 

The  occasion  upon  which  actual  hostilities  disturbed 
the  repose  of  Yolagases  was  in  a.d.  133,  wlien,  by  the 
intrigues  of  Pharasmanes,  king  of  the  Iberians,  a  great 
horde  of  Alani  from  the  tract  beyond  the  Caucasus 
was  induced  to  pour  itself  through  the  passes  of  that 
mountain  chain  upon  the  territories  of  both  the  Par- 
thians  and  the  Romans.^  Pharasmanes  had  pre- 
viously shown  contempt  for  the  power  of  Rome  l)y 
refusing  to  pay  court  to  Hadrian,  when,  in  a.d.  130, 
he  invited  the  monarchs  of  Western  Asia  generally  to 
a  conference.^  He  had  also,  it  would  seem,  been  in- 
sulted l)y  Hadrian,  who,  when  Pharasmanes  sent  him 
a  number  of  cloaks  made  of  cloth-of-gold,  employed 
them  in  the  adornment  of  three  hundred  convicts  con- 
demned to  furnish  sport  to  the  Romans  in  the  amphi- 
theatre.* What  quarrel  he  had  with  the  Parthians  we 
are  not  told  ;  but  it  is  related  that  at  his  instigation  the 
savage  Alani,  introduced  within  the  mountain  barrier, 
poured  at  one  and  the  same  time  into  Media  Atropa- 
tene,  which  was  a  dependency  of  Parthia ;  into  Ar- 
menia, which  was  under  Parthamaspates  ;  and  into  the 
Roman  province  of  Cappadocia.  Volagases  sent  an 
embassy  to  Rome  complaining  of  the  conduct  of  Pha- 
rasmanes,'^ who  appears  to  have  been  regarded  as  ruling 
under  Roman  protection  ;  and  that  prince  was  suni- 

'  Volap;ascs  II.  wears  a  tiara,  or- 
namented at  the  edge  with  hooks  or 
feathers.  His  nose  is  prominent, 
his  eye  larfjjc,  his  liair  curled,  his 
heard  pointed  and  wavy. 

''  Dio  Cass.  Ixix.  15  ;  Zonaras,  p. 
590,  C. 

^  JE\.  Spart.  nadrian.  §  13. 

'  Il)id.  >^  17,  ad  fin. 

^  Dio  t^ass.  1.  s.  c. 
Volagases   XL 


Cir.  XIX.]  INROAD    OF    THE    ALANI.  321 

moned  to  Kome  in  order  to  answer  for  liis  conduct. 
But  tlie  Alanian  inroad  liad  to  be  dealt  with  at  once. 
The  Roman  governor  of  Cappadocia,  who  ^vas  Arrian, 
the  historian  of  Alexander,  by  a  mere  display  of  force 
drove  the  barbarians  from  his  province.  Volagases 
showed  a  tamer  spirit;  he  was  content  to  follow  an 
example,  often  set  in  the  East,  and  already  in  one  in- 
stance imitated  by  Kome,^  but  never  adopted  by  any 
nation  as  a  settled  policy  without  fatal  consequences, 
and  to  buy  at  a  high  price  the  retreat  of  the  in- 
vaders. 

It  was  to  have  been  expected  that  Rome  ^vould 
have  punished  severely  the  guilt  of  Pharasmanes  in 
exposing  the  Empire  and  its  allies  to  horrors  such  as 
always  accompany  the  inroads  of  a  barbarous  people. 
But  though  the  Iberian  monarch  was  compelled  to 
travel  to  Rome  and  make  his  appearance  before  the 
Emj^eror's  tiil^unal,^  yet  Hadrian,  so  far  from  punish- 
ing him,  was  induced  to  load  him  with  benefits  and 
honours.  He  permitted  him  to  sacrifice  in  the  Capitol, 
placed  his  equestrian  statue  in  the  temple  of  Bellona, 
and  granted  him  an  augmentation  of  territory.^  Vola- 
gases can  scarcely  have  been  pleased  at  these  results  of 
his  complaints  ;  he  boi'e  them,  however,  without  mur- 
muring, and,  when  (in  a.d.  138)  Hadrian  died  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  adopted  son,  T.  Aurelius,  better 
known  as  Antoninus  Pius,  Volagases  sent  to  Rome  an 
embassy  of  congi-atulation,  and  presented  the  new 
monarch  with  a  crown  of  gold."^ 


'  In  the  case  of  the  Dacians.  (Dio  1  on    the    obverse    the    head  of  the 
Cass.  Ixviii.  6  ;  Plin.  Paneg.  11,  13.)    Emperor,  and  on  the  reverse  a  female 
"  Dio  Cass.  Ixix.  15.  l  figure,  holding  a  bow  and  quiver  with 

^  Ibid.  i  the    left    hand,     and    presenting   a 

*  This  appears  from  a  coin  struck    crown  with  the  right,  with  the  in- 
in  thefirst  year  of  Antoninus,  having    scription  PARTIITA. 


322  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    XLX. 

It  was  probably  at  this  same  time  that  be  ventured 
to  make  an  unpleasant  demand.  Hadrian  bad  pro- 
mised tbat  tbe  goklen  tbrone  which  Trajan  had  cap- 
tured in  bis  expedition,  and  by  which  the  Partbians 
set  so  much  store,  should  be  surrendered  to  them;^ 
but  this  promise  he  bad  failed  to  perform.  Volagases 
appears  to  have  thought  that  his  successor  might  be 
more  facile,  and  accordingly  instructed  his  envoys  to 
re  open  the  subject,  to  remind  Antoninus  of  the  pledged 
faith  of  his  adopted  father,  and  to  make  a  formal 
request  for  the  delivery  of  the  valued  relic.^  Anto- 
ninus, however,  proved  as  obdurate  as  Hadrian.  He 
was  not  to  be  persuaded  by  any  argument  to  give 
back  the  trophy;  and  the  envoys  had  to  return  with 
the  report  that  their  representations  upon  the  point 
had  been  in  vain,  and  had  wholly  failed  to  move  the 
new  Emperor. 

The  history  of  Volagases  H.  ends  with  this  trans- 
action. No  events  are  assignable  to  the  last  ten  years 
of  his  reign,  which  was  probal)ly  a  season  of  profound 
repose,  in  the  East  as  it  was  in  the  West — a  period 
having  (as  our  greatest  historian  observes  of  it)  '  the 
rare  advantage  of  furnishing  very  few  materials  for 
histor}^,^  which  is,  indeed  (as  he  says)^  'little  more  than 
the  register  of  the  ci'imes,  follies,  and  misfortunes  of 
mankind.'^  The  influence  of  Kome  extended  beyond 
his  borders.  As  in  modern  times  it  has  become  a 
proverb,  that  when  a  particular  European  nation  is 
satisfied  the  peace  of  the  world  is  assured,  so  in  the 
days  whereof  we  are  treating  it  would  seem  that  Rome 
had  only  to  desire  repose,  for  the  surrounding  nations 


Ai\.  Spart.  ILfdrian.  §  13.  i      '  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  i. 

Jul.  Capit.  Anton.  Pi.  §  9.  I  p.  205 ;  .Smith's  ed. 


CH.  XIX.]  ACCESSION    OF    VOLAGASES    III.  323 

to  find  themselves  tranquil.  The  inference  appears  to 
be,  that  not  only  were  the  wars  which  occurred  be- 
tween Kouie  and  her  neighbouis  for  the  most  part 
stirred  u])  by  herself;  but  that  even  the  civil  com- 
motions which  distui'bed  States  upon  her  bordeis  had 
very  generally  their  origin  in  Roman  intrigues,  which, 
skilfully  concealed  from  view,  nevertheless  directed  tlie 
course  of  affairs  in  surrounding  States,  and  roused  in 
them,  when  Rome  thought  her  interests  required  it, 
civil  dilYerences,  disorders,  and  contentions. 

The  successor  of  Volagases  II.  was  Yolagases  III., 
who  was  most  probably  his  son,  although  of  this  there 
is  no  direct  evidence.  The  Parthian  coins  show  ^  that 
Volagases  III.  ascended  the  throne  in  a.d.  148  or  149, 
and  reigned  till  a.d.  190  or  191  —  a  space  of  fort3'-two 
years.  We  may  assume  that  he  was  a  tolerably  young- 
man  at  his  accession,  though  the  effigy  upon  his  earliest 
coins  is  well  bearded,  and  that  he  was  somewhat  tired 
of  the  long  inactivity  which  had  characterised  the 
period  of  his  father's  rule.  He  seems  very  early  to 
have  meditated  a  war  with  Rome,^  and  to  have  taken 
certain  steps  which  betrayed  his  intentions ;  but,  upon 
their  comino;  to  the  knowledore  of  Antoninus,  and  that 
prince  writing  to  him  on  the  subject,  Volagases  altered 
his  plans,'^  and  resolved  to  wait,  at  any  rate,  until  a 
change  of  Emperor  at  Rome  should  give  him  a  chance 
of  taking  the  enemy  at  a  disadvantage.  Thus  it  was 
not  till  A.D.  161 — twelve  years  after  his  accession — 
that  his  orio-inal  desio;u  was  carried  out,  and  the  flames 


'  See  Lindsay,  History  and  Coin-        ^  Ibid.    Anton.    Pi.    §9.      'Par- 
age.,  pp.  186,  187.  thorum  regem  ab  Armeniorum   ex- 

^  Jul.    Capit.    Anton.    Phil.    §   8.    pugnatione     solis     litteris    reppulit 
'  Parthicum     bellura,    paratnm   suh    [Pius].' 
Pio,    Marci  et  Veri  tempore  indixit 
Yolaojessus.'  I 


324  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    XIX. 

of  war  were  once  more  lio-lited  in  tlie  East  to  the  ruin 
and  desolation  of  the  fairest  portion  of  Western  Asia. 

The  good  Antoninus  was  succeeded  in  the  spring  of 
A.D.  161  by  his  adopted  son,  Marcus  Aurelius,  who  at 
once  associated  with  him  in  the  2;overnment  the  other 
adopted  son  of  Antoninus,  Lucius  Verus.  Upon  this, 
thinking  that  the  opportunity  for  which  he  had  been  so 
lono;  waitino;had  at  last  arrived,  Volaarases  marched  his 
troops  suddenly  into  Armenia,  expelled  Soaemus,  the 
king  protected  by  the  Komans,^  and  established  in  his 
place  a  certain  Tigranes,  a  scion  of  the  old  royal  stock, 
whom  the  Armeniansregarded  as  their  rightful  monarch.,^ 
News  of  this  bold  stroke  soon  reached  the  governors 
of  the  adjacent  Roman  provinces,  and  Severianus, 
pr^efect  of  Cappadocia,  a  Gaul  by  birth,  incited  by  the 
predictions  of  a  pseudo-prophet  of  those  parts,  named 
Alexander,^  proceeded  at  the  head  of  a  legion  into  the 
adjoining  kingdom,  in  the  hope  of  crushing  the  nascent 
insurrection  and  punishing  at  once  the  Armenian  rebels 
and  their  Parthian  supporters.  Scarcely,  however,  had 
he  crossed  the  Euphrates,  when  he  found  himself  con- 
fronted by  an  overwhelming  force,  commanded  by  a 
Pai'thian  called  Chosroes,*  and  was  compelled  to  thi'ow 
himself  into  the  city  of  Elegeia,  where  he  was  imme- 
diately surrounded  and  })esieged.^  Various  tales  were 
told  of  his  conduct  under  these  circumstances,  and  of 
the  fate  wliicli   overtook   him;*'    the    most    probable 


'  See  Jambl.  ap.  Phot.  Bihliothec.  l      ^  Dio  Cass.  Ixxi.  2. 
Cod.    xciv.    p.    241;   Dio  Cass.  ap.  |      "  Acoordinfi;  to  some,   he  starved 
[5uid.      ad     voc.     Wipnoi;    Fronto,  j  himself  (Liician.  1.  s.  c.)  ;  according 
E])iiit.  ad   Ven/m,   ii.   1  (p.  127,  cd.    to  others,    he  cut  his  throat  with  a 
Naber).  ]  piece  of  glass  (ibid.  §  27).     The  true 

*  Mos.  Choron.  Hid.  Armen.  ii.  Gl.    account  of  his  death  is  given  by  Dio. 
'  ^jUVVAn.  Alex.  PHeudo-Mant.^'il.    (1.  s.  c.      OvoT.oyman'i     .     .     .     nrpn- 

*  Ibid.       Quomodu    Ilitit.    sit   con-    rinzufiov  !>lnv  'Pl^ikiIkov  nh-oli  Tj-ytfioai 
scribend.  §  21.  i  KareTo^evne  koc  diitpOeipe.) 


CH.  XIX.]  KE  INVADES  SYKIA  AND  PALESTINE.  325 

account  being  that  after  liokliug  out  for  three  days  he 
and  his  troops  were  assailed  on  all  sides,  and,  after  a 
brave  resistance,  were  shot  down  almost  to  a  man. 
The  Parthians  then  crossed  the  Euphrates,  and  carried 
fire  and  slvord  through  Syria.^  Attidius  Cornelianus, 
the  proconsul,  having  ventured  to  oppose  them,  was 
repulsed.^  Vague  thoughts  of  flying  to  arms  and 
shaking  off  the  Roman  yoke  possessed  the  minds  of 
the  Syrians,^  and  threatened  to  lead  to  some  overt  act. 
The  Parthians  passed  through  Syria  into  Palestine,  and 
almost  the  whole  East  seemed  to  lie  open  to  their 
incursions.  When  these  facts  were  reported  at  Kome, 
it  was  resolved  to  send  Lucius  Verus  to  the  East.  He 
was  of  an  age  to  undergo  the  hardships  of  campaign- 
ino;,  and  therefore  better  fitted  than  ]\Iarcus  Aurelius  to 
undertake  the  conduct  of  a  gi'eat  war.  But,  as  his 
military  talent  was  distrusted,  it  was  considered  neces- 
sary to  place  at  his  disposal  a  numl)er  of  the  best 
Roman  generals  of  the  time,  whose  services  he  might 
use  while  he  claimed  as  his  own  their  successes.  Statius 
Priscus,  Avid  ins  Cassius,  and  Martins  Verus,  were  the 
most  important  of  these  officers;  .and  it  was  by  them, 
and  not  by  Verus  himself,  that  the  military  operations 
were,  in  fact,  conducted. 

It  was  not  till  late  in  the  year  a.d.  162  that  Verus 
having  with  reluctance  torn  himself  from  Italy,''  ap 
peared,  with  his  lieutenants,  upon  the  scene  in  Syria 
and,  after  vainly  offering  them  terms  of  peace,^  com 
menced  hostilities  against  the  triumphant  Parthians, 
The  young  Emperor  did  not  adventure  his  own  person 


^  Dio  Cass.  Ixxi.  2  ;  Oros.  vii.  15. 
"  Jul.  Capit.  Anton.  Phil.  §  8. 
'  n)id.    Ver.  Impernt.   §  6.  '  Sjris 
defectionem  cogitantibus.' 


'  Ibid.  1.  s.  c. 

*  Fronto,    Princip.    Hist.    p.  208, 
ed.  Naber. 


326 


THE    SIXTH    MOXAUCHY. 


[CII.   XIX. 


in  tlie  field,  but  stationed  himself  at  Antioch/  where 
he  could  enjoy  the  pleasures  and  amusements  of  a 
luxurious  capital,  while  he  committed  to  liis  lieutenants 
the  task  of  I'eco veering  Syria  and  Ai-menia,  and  of 
chastising  the  invaders,  Avidius  Cassius,  to  whom  the 
Syrian  legions  were  entrusted,  had  a  hard  task  to 
bring  them  into  proper  discipline  after  their  long  period 
of  inaction,~  but  succeeded  after  a  while  by  the  use  of 
almost  unexampled  sev^erities.  Attacked  by  Volagases 
within  the  limits  of  his  province,  he  made  a  successful 
defence,^  and  in  a  short  time  was  able  to  take  the 
offensive,  to  defeat  Volagases  in  a  great  battle  neai* 
Europus,'*  and  (a.d.  163)  to  drive  the  Parthians  across 
the  Euphrates,  The  Armenian  war  was  at  the  same 
time  being  pressed  by  Statins  Priscus,  who  advanced 
without  a  check  from  the  frontier  to  the  capital,  Ar- 
taxata,  which  he  took  and  (as  it  seems)  destroyed.^ 
He  then  built  a  new  city,  which  he  strongly  garrisoned 
with  Roman  troops,  and  sent  intelligence  of  his  suc- 
cesses to  Rome,  whither  Soasm us,  the  expelled  monarch, 
had  betaken  himself.  Sofi?mus  was  upon  this  replaced 
on  the  Armenian  throne,  the  task  of  settling  him  in  the 
government  being  deputed  to  a  certain  Thucydides,  l)y 
whose  efforts,  together  ^vith  those  of  Martins  Verus, 
all  opposition  to  the  restored  monarch  was  suppressed, 
and  the  entire  country  tranrpiillised.^ 

Rome  had  thus  in  the  space  of  two  years  recovered 
her  losses,  and  shown  Parthia  that  she  was  still  well 


>  Dio  Cass.  Ixi.  2  ;  Jul.  Capit. 
Ver.  Imp.  §>  7. 

^  Vulc.  (Jail.  Avid.  Cass.  §§  5,  6. 
Compare  Fronto,  I^'inrip.  Hist.  pp. 
200-208;  where,  however,  tlie  credit 
of  establishing  a  propei'  discipline  is 
assigned  by  the  polite  courtier  tj 
Verus. 


'  Dio  Cass.  1.  s.  c.  'Emovra  tov 
OuoAiiycu-ov  yevpaiuS  vnf/j.Eive. 

^  Lucian.  Quomodo  historia  sit  con- 
serih.  §  20  and  §  28 

•'  Jul.  Ciipit.  Ant.  Phil  §  9  ; 
Siiida-i  ad  voc.  B //)«?. 

''  Suidas,  1.  s.  c.  Conip.  Jamblich. 
ap.  Phot.  Bilil.  xciv.  p.  241. 


CH.  XIX.]  ROM  AX  SUCCESSES  AGAINST  PARTHIA.  327 

able  to  maintain  the  position  in  Western  Asia  which 
she  had  acquired  by  the  victories  of  Trajan.  But  such 
a  measure  of  success  did  not  content  the  ambitious 
generals  into  whose  hands  the  incompetence  of  Vei'us 
had  thrown  the  I'eal  direction  of  the  war.  Military 
distinction  at  this  time  offered  to  a  Roman  a  path  to 
the  very  highest  honours,  each  successful  general  be- 
coming at  once  by  force  of  his  position  a  candidate  for 
the  Imperial  dignity.  Of  the  various  able  officers  em- 
ployed under  Verus,  the  most  distinguished  and  the 
most  ambitious  was  Cassius — a  chief  who  ultimately 
raised  the  standard  of  revolt  against  Aurelius,  and  lost 
his  life  in  consequence.^  Cassius,  after  he  had  suc- 
ceeded in  clearing  Syi'ia  of  the  invaders,  was  made  by 
Aurelius  a  sort  of  generalissimo;"'  and  l^eing  thus  free 
to  act  as  he  chose,  determined  to  carry  the  war  into 
the  enemy's  country,  and  to  try  if  he  could  not  rival, 
or  outdo,  the  exploits  of  Trajan  fifty  years  previously. 
Though  ^ve  have  no  continuous  nai'iative  of  his  expe- 
dition, we  may  trace  its  course  with  tolerable  accuracy 
in  the  various  fragmentary  writings  whicli  bear  upon  the 
history  of  the  time — from  Zeugma,  when  he  crossed 
the  Euphrates  into  Mesopotamia,^  to  Nicephorium,'*  near 
the  junction  of  the  Belik  with  the  Euphrates;  and 
thence  down  the  course  of  the  stream  to  Sura^  (Sip- 
para?)  and  Babylon.^  At  Sura  a  battle  was  fought,  in 
which  the  Romans  were  victorious  ;  and  then  the  final 
efforts  were  made,  which  covered  Cassius  with  glory. 
The  great  city  of  Seleucia,  upon  the  Tigris,  which  had 
a  population  of  400,000  souls,   was    besieged,   taken, 


'  Vulc.  Gall.  Avid.  Cuss.  §  7 ;  Dio  '      '  Dio  Cass.   Fr.  ap.  Suidam,   sub 
Cass.  Ixxi.  22-27.  1  voc.  Zevyfua. 

I      *  Fionto,  Enist.  ii.  1,  p.  121. 

'^  Dio  Cass.  Ixxi.  3;   Vulc.   Gall.        '  Lus^ian.  Q'l.mvxJo.  &c..  §29. 
Avid.  Cass.  §  6.  ,      °  Jul .  Cap.   Ver.  Imp.  §  7. 


328  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  XIX. 

and  burnt,  to  punish  an  alleged  treason  of  tbe  inhal)it- 
ants.^  Ctesiplion,  upon  tlie  opposite  side  of  the 
stream,  was  occupied,  and  the  summer  palace  of  Vola- 
gases  there  situated  was  levelled  with  the  ground.^ 
The  various  temples  were  plundered  ;  secret  places, 
where  it  w^as  thought  treasure  might  be  hid,  were 
examined,  and  a  rich  booty  was  carried  off  by  the 
invaders.  The  Parthians,  w^orsted  in  every  encounter, 
ceased  to  resist;  and  all  the  conquests  made  by  Trajan 
were  recovered.  Nor  was  this  all.  The  Roman 
general,  after  conquei"ing  the  Mesopotamian  plain,  ad- 
vanced into  the  Zagros  mountains,  and  occupied,  at  any 
rate,  a  portion  of  Media,  thereby  entitling  his  Imperial 
masters  to  add  to  the  titles  of '  Armeniacus,'  and  '  Par- 
thicus,'  which  they  had  already  assumed,  the  further 
and  wholly  novel  title  of  '  Medicus.'  ^ 

But  Rome  \\"as  not  to  escape  the  Nemesis  which  is 
wont  to  pursue  the  over- fortunate.  During  the  stay 
of  the  army  in  Babylonia,  a  disease  was  contracted  of 
a  strange  and.  terrible  character,  whereto  the  supersti- 
tious fears  of  the  soldiers  assigned  a  supernatural  origin. 
The  pestilence,  they  said,  had  crept  forth  from  a  sub- 
terranean cell  in  the  temple  of  Conifran  Apollo  at 
Seleucia,^  wliicli  those  who  were  plundering  the  town 
rashly  opened  in  the  hope  of  its  containing  treasure, 
but  which  held  nothing  except  this  fearful  scourge, 
placed  there  in  j^rimeval  times  by  the  spells  of  the 
Chaldeans.     Such  a  belief,  however  fanciful,  was  cal- 


'  Dio  Cass.  Ixxi.  2  ;  Jul.  Cap.  Ver.  i  '  Jul.  Capit.  Ver.  Imp.  §  7. 
Imp.  §  8;  Eutiop.  Bren.  viii.  5  ;' Compare  Eckhcl,  Z'w^. -ZV^ww.  vol.  vii. 
Oros.   vii.    l.'j  ;  Airiin.  Marc,  x.viii.  (5.    pp.  51  and  92. 

Capitolinus    disbelieve-;    the   charge        *  Sen    Aininian.    Mure,    xxiii.    0, 
made  against  the  Seleucians.  §  24.  Compare  Jul.  Capit.  Ver.  Imp. 

*  Dio  Cass.  1.  s.  c.  :  S  8. 


en.  XIX.]  DESTRUCTIVE    PESTILEXCE.  329 

Ciliated  to  Increase  the  destructive  power  of  tlie  malady, 
and  so  to  multiply  its  victims.  Vast  numbers  of  the 
soldiers  perished,  we  are  told,  from  its  effects  during 
the  march  homeward  ;  their  sutferino-s  heins:  further 
aggrav^ated  by  the  failure  of  supplies,  which  was  such 
that  many  died  of  famine.^  The  stricken  army,  upon 
entering  the  Roman  territory,  communicated  the  infec- 
tion to  the  inhabitants,  and  the  return  of  Verus  and 
his  troops  to  Rome  was  a  march  of  Death  through  the 
provinces.  The  pestilence  raged  with  special  force 
throughout  Italy,  and  spread  as  far  as  the  Rhine  and 
the  Atlantic  Ocean.'^  Accordino;  to  one  writer,^  more 
than  onedialf  of  the  entire  population,  and  almost  the 
'whole  Roman  army,  was  carried  off  by  it. 

But  though  Rome  suffered  in  consequence  of  the 
war,  its  general  result  was  undoulitedly  disadvantageous 
to  the  Parthians.  The  expedition  of  Cassius  was  the 
first  invasion  of  Parthia  in  which  Rome  had  been  alto- 
gether triumphant.  Trajan's  campaign  had  brought 
about  the  submission  of  Armenia  to  the  Romans  ;  but 
it  did  not  permanently  deprive  Parthia  of  any  portion 
of  her  actual  territory.  And  the  successes  of  the 
Emperor  in  his  advance  were  almost  balanced  by  the 
disasters  which  accompanied  his  retreat — disasters  so 
serious  as  to  cause  a  general  belief  that  Hadrian's  con- 
cessions sprang  more  froni.  prudence  than  from  2;'ene- 
rosity.  The  war  of  Verus  produced  the  actual  cession 
to  Rome  of  a  Parthian  province,  which  continued 
thenceforth  for  centuries  to  be  an  integral  portion  of 
the  Roman  Empire.^     Western  Mesopotamia,   or   the 

'  Dio  Cass.  Ixxi.  2.  I  inum  pars,  militum  omnes  fere  copise 

-  Amm.  Marc.  1.  s.  c.  I  languore  defecerint.'    Compare  Oros. 

'  Eutrop.   Brec.  viii.  6: — 'Tantus    vii.  15. 

casus  pestilentiaj  fuit,    ut  .  .  .  per        ■*  This  is  seen  most  cleirly  in  the 

Italian!  provinciasque  maxima  hom-  ,  series  of  Mesopotamian  corns,  espe- 


330 


THE    SIXTH    .MONAKCHY, 


[CH.  XIX. 


tract  between  tlie  Euphrates  and  the  Khabour,  passed 
under  the  dominion  of  Home  at  this  time ;  and,  though 
not  reduced  to  the  condition  of  a  province,  was  none 
the  less  lost  to  Parthia,  and  absorbed  by  Rome  into 
her  territory.  Parthia,  moreover,  was  penetrated  by 
the  Roman  arms  more  deeply  at  this  time  than  she  had 
ever  been  previously,  and  was  made  to  feel,  as  she  had 
never  felt  before,  that  in  contending  with  Rome  she 
was  ii2:htino;  a  losino-  battle.  It  added  to  the  diso-race 
of  her  defeats,  and  to  her  own  sense  of  their  decisive 
character,  that  they  were  inflicted  by  a  mere  general, 
a  man  of  no  very  great  eminence,  and  one  who  was 
far  from  possessing  the  free  command  of  those  immense 
resources  which  Rome  had  at  her  disposal. 

Partliia  had  now,  in  fact,  entered  upon  the  third 
stage  of  her  decline.  The  first  was  reached  when  she 
ceased  to  be  an  aggressive,  and  was  content  to  become 
a  stationary,  power ;  ^  the  second  set  in  when  she  began 
to  lose  territoiy  by  the  revolt  of  her  own  subjects ;  ^ 
the  third — which  commences  at  this  point — is  marked 
by  her  inaVjility  to  protect  herself  from  the  attacks  of  a 
foreign  assaihmt.  The  causes  of  her  decline  were 
various.  Luxuiy  had  no  douV)t  done  its  ordinary  work 
uj)on  the  conquerors  of  rich  and  highly-civilised  re- 
gions, softening  (h)wn  their  original  ferocity,  and  ren- 
dering them  at  once  less  robust  in  frame,  and  less  bold 
and  venturesome  in  character.  The  natural  law  of 
exhaustion,  which  sooner  or  later  affects  all  races  of 
any  distinction,  may  also  not  improbal)ly  have  come 
into  play,  rendering  the  Parthians  of  the  age  of  Verus 


cially  those  of  Carrhae  and  Edi'ssa, 
which  })ear  on  the  ohverse  the  head 
of  a  Roman  Emperor  from  the  time 
of  A'ireUus  and  Verus.  (See  Mio:i- 


net,  Description  de  Med.  Ant.  torn.  v. 
pp.  59:3-625.) 

'  See  above,  p.  194. 

'  See  page  293. 


CII.  XIX.]  MARKED    DECLINE    OF   PARTHIA.  331 

very  degenerate  descendants  of  tliose  avIio  displayed 
such  brilliant  qualities  Avlien  they  contended  with 
Crassus  and  Mark  Antony.  Loyalty  towai'ds  the 
monarch,  and  the  absolute  devotion  of  every  energy  to 
his  service,  wliich  characterised  the  earlier  times,  dwin- 
dled and  disappeared  as  the  succession  became  more 
and  more  disputed,  and  the  kings  less  worthy  of  their 
subjects'  admiration.  The  strength  needed  against 
foreign  enemies  ^vas,  moreover,  frequently  expended 
in  civil  broils ;  the  spirit  of  patriotism  declined  ;  and 
tameness  under  insult  and  indignity  took  the  place  of 
that  fierce  piide  and  fiery  self-assertion  which  had  once 
characterised  the  .people. 

The  war  with  Hume  terminated  in  the  year  a.d.  165. 
Volagases  survived  its  close  for  at  least  twenty-five 
years ;  but  he  did  not  venture  at  any  time  to  renew 
the  struggle,  or  to  make  any  effort  for  the  I'ecovery  of 
his  lost  territoiy.  Once  only  does  he  appear  to  have 
contemplated  an  outbreak.  When,  aljout  the  year 
A.D,  174  or  175,  Aurelius  being  occupied  in  the  west 
with  repelling  the  attacks  of  the  wild  tril)es  upon  the 
Danube,  Avidius  Cassius  assumed  the  purple  in  Syria,^ 
and  a  civil  war  seemed  to  be  imminent,  Volagases  ap- 
pears to  have  shown  an  intention  of  once  more  taking 
arms  and  trying  his  fortune.  A  Parthian  war  was  at 
this  time  expected  to  break  out  by  the  Romans.^  But 
the  crisis  passed  without  an  actual  explosion.  The 
promptness  of  Aurelius,  who,  on  hearing  tlie  news,  at 
once  quitted  the  Danube  and  marched  into  Syria,  toge- 
ther with  the  rapid  collapse  of  the  Cassian  revolt,  ren- 
dered it  imprudent  for  Volagases  to  persist  in  his  pro- 


'  Jul.  Cap.  Acid.    Cass.   §  7  ;  Dio    'Imminebit  ct  Parthicum  belluin  et 
Cass.  Ixxi.  23.  j  Britannicum.' 

=  Jul.    Capit.     Ant.    Phil.    §   22. 


332 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY, 


[CH.  XIX. 


ject.  He  therefore  laid  aside  all  thoiiii;lit  of  renewing 
hostilities  with  Kome  ;  and  on  the  arrival  of  Aurelius 
in  Syria,  sent  ambassadors  to  him  with  friendly  assu- 
rances, who  were  receiv^ed  favourably  by  the  philo- 
sophic Emperor.^ 

Four  years  after  this  Marcus  Aurelius  died,^  and  was 
succeeded  in  the  purple  by  his  youthful  son,  Lucius 
Aurelius  Commodus,  It  might  have  been  expected 
that  the  accession  of  this  weak  and  inexperienced 
prince  would  have  induced  Volagases  to  resume  his 
warlike  projects,  and  attempt  the  recovery  of  Mesopo- 
tamia. But  the  scanty  history  of  the  time  which  has 
come  down  to  us*^  shows  no  trace  of  his  having  enter- 
tained any  such  design.  He  had  probably  reached 
the  age  at  which  repose  becomes  a  distinct  object  of 
desire,  and  is  infinitely  preferred  to  active  exertion. 
At  any  rate,  it  is  clear  that  he  made  no  effort.  The 
reis^n  of  Commodus  was  from  first  to  last  untroubled 
bv  Oriental  disturbance.  Vola2:ases  HI.  was  for  ten 
years  contemporary  with  this  mean  and  unwarlike 
prince ;  but  Rome  was  allowed  to  retain  her  Parthian 
conquests  unmolested.  At  length,  in  a.d.  190  or  191, 
Volagases  died,'*  and  the  destinies  of  Parthia  passed 
into  the  hands  of  a  new  monarch. 


'  Jul.  Capit.  Ant.  Phil.  ?  2fi,  ad 
init.  The  '  PerHian  ambassadors ' 
of  this  passaj^e  are  undoubtedly 
envoys  from  Vola<!;ases. 

^  A.D.  180.  (See  Clinton,  F.  R. 
vol.  i.  p.  178.) 

^  Our  authorities  for  the  time  of 
Commodus  are  three  only  :  Dio  in  the 
Epitome    of   Xiphilinus,  Ilerodian, 


(book  i.),  and  Lampridius  in  the 
Hhtorioi  AvgiiKta'  ScrifAores.  These 
writers  are  almost  silent  as  to 
the  condition  of  tiic  East  at  the 
period. 

"  The  latest  coins  of  Volagases 
ITI.  bear  the  date  B<t>,  which  corre- 
sponds to  the  latter  part  of  a.d.  190 
aud  the  earlier  of  a.d.  191. 


Cn.  XX.]  ACCESSION    OF    VOLAGASES    IV.  333 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Accession  of  Volagnses  TV.  Ilh  Alliance  sought  hy  Pescennius  .Niger. 
Part  taken  l)y  Purthin  in  the  Content  hettreen  Niger  and  Severus.  Mem- 
potamia  revolts  from  Rome.  First  Eastern  Expedition  of  Severus.  Its 
Results.  Second  E.vpedition.  Successes  of  Severus.  His  failure  at 
Hatra.      General  Results  of  the   War.     Death  of  Volagases  IV. 

Merd    61   ravra   6   "ZeQripo'i    fKarparEVEi    Kara    tuv    UdpSuv  .  .   .   Tjpxs   6'   avruv 
Ovo?.d}aiaoi. — Dio  Cass.  Ixxv.  9. 

On  the  death  of  Vohigases  Ilf.,  in  a.d.  190  or  191,  the 
Parthian  crown  fell  to  another  prince  of  the  same  name, 
who  was  probably  the  eldest  son  of  the  late  monarch.' 
This  prince  was  scarcely  settled  npon  the  throne  when 
the  whole  of  Western  Asia  was  violently  disturbed  l)y 
the  commotions  which  shook  the  Roman  Empire 
after  the  murder  of  Commodus.  The  virtuous  Per- 
tinax  was  allowed  to  reign  but  three  months  (a.d. 
193,  January — March).  His  successor  was  scarcely 
pi'oclaimed  when  in  three  different  quarters  the  legion- 
aries rose  in  arms,  and,  saluting  their  commanders  as 
'Emperors,'  invested  them  with  the  purple.  Clodius 
Albinus,  in  Britain  ;  Severus,  in  Pannonia  ;  and  Pes- 
cennius Niger,  in  Syria,  at  one  and  the  same  time 
claimed  the  j^lace  which  the  wretched  Julianus  had 
bought,  and  prepared  themselves  to  maintain  their 
rights  against  all  who  should  impugn  them.     It  seems 


'  Reimar   and    others   have   sup-  Cassius  Hxxv.  9,  adfn.).     But  it  is 

posed  that  Volagases,  the  adversary  more    probable    that   the   fragment 

of  Severus,    was  the    son  of  a  Sa-  refers   to  a   different  Volagases,  an 

natroeces,     or    Sanatruces,    on    the  Armenian  prince,  contemporary  with 

strength     of    a     fragment    of    Dio  the  Parthian  Volagases  IV. 


334 


THE   SIXTH    JrONARCIlY 


[CH.    XX. 


that,  on  the  first  prochiination  of  Niger,  and  before  it 
had  become  evident  that  he  woukl  have  to  establish 
his  authority  by  force  of  arms^  either  the  Parthian 
monarch,  or  at  any  rate  princes  who  were  among  his 
dependants,^  sent  to  congratuhite  the  new  Emperor  on 
liis  accession  and  to  offer  him  contingents  of  troops,  if 
he  required  them.  These  spontaneous  proposals  were  at 
the  first  politely  declined,  since  ISMger  expected  to  find 
himself  accepted  joyfully  as  sovereign,  and  did  not 
look  to  have  to  engage  in  ^var.  When,  however,  the 
news  reached  him  tliat  he  had  formidalde  competitors, 
and  that  Severus,  acknowledged  Empei'or  at  Ilo,me, 
was  about  to  set  out  for  the  East,  at  the  head  of  vast 
forces,  he  saw  that  it  would  l)e  necessary  for  him,  if  he 
were  to  make  head  against  his  powerful  rival,  to  draw 
together  troops  from  all  (puirters.  Accordingly,  to- 
wards the  close  of  a.d.  193,  he  sent  envoys  to  the  princes 
beyond  the  Euphrates,  and  especially  to  the  kings  of 
Parthia,  Armenia,  and  Hatra,  entreating  them  to  send 
theii'  troops  at  once  to  his  aid.^  Volagases,  under  these 
cii'cumstances,  appears  to  have  hesitated.  He  sent  an 
answer  that  he  would  issue  orders  to  his  satraps  for 
the  collection  of  a  force,  but  made  no  haste  to  redeem 
his  promise,  and  in  fact  refrained  from  despatching  any 
body  of  distinctly  Parthian  troops  to  the  assistance  of 
Niger  in  the  impending  struggle. 

While,  however,  tlius  abstaining  from  direct  inter- 
ference in  the  contest  between  the  two  Iloman  pre- 
tenders, Volagases  appears  to  have  allowed  one  of  his 
dependent  monarchs  to  mix  himself  up  in  the  quarreL 
Hatra,    at    this    time  the  capital  of  an   Arabian  con- 


'  Ilerodian.  ii.  31.  The  expres- 
sions used  are  somewhat  vajjue — 
ol  re   intKsiva    Tlypi^oi    Kal    F,v<pi)dTnv 


anTpuirai 

K.T.7.. 

"^  Herod ian.  iii.  1 


Kal     iSnnO'.elS     ensareXTiO 


CH.  XX.]  AID    LENT    BY    HIM    TO    NIGER.  335 

rannity/  and  the  cliief  city  of  central  Mesopotamia 
(or  the  tract  between  the  Sinjar  and  the  Babylonian 
alluvium),  Avas  a  dependency  of  Parthia,  and  thougli, 
like  so  many  other  Parthian  dependencies,  it  possessed 
its  native  kings,^  cannot  have  been  in  a  position  to 
engage  in  a  great  war  without  permission  from  the 
Court  of  Ctesiphon.  Wlien,  therefore,  we  find  that 
Barsemius,  the  King  of  Hatra,  not  only  i-eceived  tlie 
envoys  of  Niger  favourably,  but  actually  sent  to  his 
aid  a  body  of  archers,^  we  must  understand  that  Vola- 
gases  sanctioned  the  measure.  Probably  he  thought  it 
prudent  to  secure  the  friendship  of  the  pretender  whom 
he  ex2:)ected  to  be  successful,  but  sought  to  effect  this 
in  the  way  that  would  compromise  him  least  if  the 
result  of  the  struggle  should  be  other  than  he  looked 
for.  The  sending  of  his  own  troops  to  the  camp  of 
Niger  would  have  committed  him  irretrievably  ;  but  the 
actions  of  a  vassal  monarch  might  with  some  plausi- 
bility be  disclaimed. 

As  the  struggle  between  the  two  pretenders  pro- 
gressed in  the  early  months  of  a.d.  194,  the  nations 
beyond  the  Euphrates  grew  bolder,  and  allowed  them- 
selves to  indulge  their  natural  feelings  of  hostility 
towards  the  Romans.  The  newly  subjected  Meso- 
potamians  flew  to  arms,  massacred  most  of  the  Roman 
detachments  stationed  about  their  country,   and  laid 


•  Arab   tribes  from  a  ver}"^  early  reckoned    as    Arabian    by  Plutarch 

period    held   portions   of   Mesopota-  (Crass.  §  21),  and  Appian  (Pi'/?'?/t.  p. 

mia.     Xenophon  calls  the  tract  be-  !  140,   A).     Hatra.  or  Atra  (now  el- 

tween    the   Khabour   aud    the    Ba-  Hadhr),    is    flr>t   mentioned    in  the 

bylonian  alluvium  ■  Araiiia'  (Anab.  wars  of   Trajan,    and  is  always  said 

i.  5,  §  1).     Strabo  assigns  the  same  to    be    Arabian.       ( See    Die    Cass, 

region  to  'Scenite  Arabs'  (xvi.    1,  Ixviii.    31;    Ixxv.    10-12 ;  Herodian. 

§  26).     Arabs  appear  in  Upper  Me-  iii.  28  ;  &c.) 

sopotamia  about  the  time  of  Pompey  ■  Herodian.  iii.  1  and  27. 

(Dio   Cass.   XXXV.    2).     Osrhoeno  is  ^  Ibid.  iii.  1. 


336  THE    SIXTH    3I0NARCHY.  [CH.  XX. 

sieofe  to  Nisibis,^  which  since  the  cession  Rome  had 
made  her  head-quarters.  The  natives  of  the  region 
were  assisted  by  their  kindred  races  across  the  Tigris, 
ptirticularly  by  the  people  of  Adiabeue,^  who,  like  the 
Arabs  of  Hatra,  were  Parthian  vassals.  Severus  had  no 
sooner  overcome  his  I'ival  and  slain  him,  than  he 
hastened  eastward  with  the  ol)ject  of  relieving  the 
troops  shnt  up  in  Nisibis,  anil  of  chastising  the  reV)els 
and  their  abettors.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  Meso- 
potamians  sought  to  disarm  his  I'esentment  by  declaring 
that  they  had  taken  up  arms  in  his  cause,  and  had 
been  only  anxious  to  distress  and  injure  the  pai-tisans 
of  his  antagonist.  Though  they  sent  ambassadors  to 
him  with  pi-esents,  and  offered  to  make  restitution  of 
the  Roman  spoil  still  in  their  hands,  and  of  the  Roman 
prisoners,  it  was  observed  that  they  said  nothing  about 
restoring  the  strongholds  which  they  had  taken,  or 
resuming  the  position  of  Roman  tributaries.  On  the 
contrar}",  they  requii-ed  that  all  Roman  soldiers  still  in 
their  country  should  be  withdrawn  from  it,  and  that 
their  independence  should  henceforth  be  respected.^ 
As  Severus  was  not  inclined  to  surrender  Roman  tei'- 
ritory  without  a  contest,  war  was  at  once  declared. 
His  immediate  adversaries  w^ere  of  no  gi'eat  account, 
being,  as  they  w^ere,  the  petty  kings  of  Osrhoene, 
Adiabene,  and  Hatra  ;  but  behind  them  loomed  the 
massive  form  of  the  Parthian  State,  wdiich  was  attacked 
through  them,  and  could  not  be  Indifferent  to  their 
fortunes. 

In   the  spring  of  a.d.    195,  Severus,  at  the  head  of 
liis  troops,  crossed  the  Euphrates  in  person,  and  taking 


^    Dio  Cass.  Ixxv.  1.  y  Pi.  (^  i  II  3  rj  V  o)  nKonravTEi   koI  Nhi0n' 

''  Ibid.      Oi    }i\v     Oriiorjviu    nul    oi^  TroAiopnovi'Tti,    k.t.X.  '   Ibid. 


CH.  XX.]  SEVEKUS    INVADES    PAIITIIIA.  307 

up  Lis  own  quarters  at  Nisibis,  wliicli  the  Mesopota- 
mians  liad  been  unable  to  capture,  proceeded  to  employ 
his  generals  in  the  reduction  of  the  rebels  and  the  casti- 
gation  of  their  aiders  and  abettors.  Though  his  men 
suffered  considerably  from  the  scai'city  and  badness  of 
the  water/  yet  he  seems  to  have  found  no  great  diffi- 
culty in  reducing  Mesopotamia  once  more  into  sul)Jec- 
tion.  Having  brought  it  completely  under,  and  formally 
made  Nisibis  the  capital,  at  the  same  time  raising  it  to 
the  dignified  position  of  a  Roman  colony,^  he  caused  his 
troops  to  cross  the  Tigris  into  Adiabene,  and,  though 
the  inhabitants  offered  a  stout  resistance,  succeeded 
in  making  himself  master  of  the  country.'^  The  Par- 
thian monarch  seems  to  have  made  no  effort  to  prevent 
the  occupation  of  this  province.  He  stood  probably 
on  the  defensive,  expecting  to  be  attacked,  in  or  near 
his  capital.  But  Severus  could  not  afford  to  remain 
in  these  remote  reii:ions.  He  had  still  a  rival  in  the 
West  in  the  person  of  Clodius  Albinus,  who  might 
be  expected  to  descend  upon  Italy,  if  it  were  left  ex- 
posed to  his  attacks  much  longer.  He  therefore  quitted 


'  D'o  tells  a  story,  which  has  a 
somewhat  apocryphal  air,  to  illus- 
tra''3  the  sutierings  of  llie  army. 
An    especially  dry  summer  had,  he 


then    consented  to  drink    and  were 
refreshed.     (Dio  Cass,  l.xxv.  2.) 

'^  Dio   says  vaguely  that  Severus 
'gave  dignity'  to  Nisibis  (Ixxv.  3, 


tells  u.s,  caused  the  springs  generally  \  ai'iuun  r/}  Ninif3ei  (hi/i).  The  nature 
to  fail,  and  the  troops  on  their  way  of  the  dignity  appears  from  the 
through  the  desert  were  so  parched  coins,  which  give  Nisibis  the  titles 
with  drought,  and  so  choked  with  of  KOAHNIA  and  MHTPOnO.Mi;. 
dust,  that  they  could  no  longer  (See  Mionnet,  Description,  c£t.,  tom. 
converse,  but  could  barely  articulate  v.  pp.  625-628.) 
'Water,  water.'  At  length  they  i  ^  IJio  Cass.  1.  s.  c.  Compare  Spar- 
reached  a  Well,  but  the  water  was  so  tian.  Sev.  Imp.  §  9.  In  commcmo- 
foul  that  at  first  none  would  drink  ration  of  these  successes  Severus 
it.  Seeing  this,  Severus  caused  a  took  the  epithets  of  Arabicus  and 
goblet  to  be  tilled  for  himself,  and  in  Adiabenicus,  which  are  frequent  in 
the  sight  of  \he  troops  swallowed  his  inscriptions  and  on  his  coins. 
the  whole  at  a  draught.     The  men  I  (See   Clinton,    F.   li.  vol.  i.  p.  196.) 


338  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  XX. 

the  East  early  in  a.d.  196,  and  returned  to  Rome  with 
all  speed,  leaving  Pai'thia  very  insufficiently  chastised, 
and  his  new  conquests  very  incompletely  settled. 

Scarcely  was  he  gone  when  the  war  broke  out  with 
greater  violence  than  ever.  Volagases  took  the  offen- 
sive, recovered  Adiabene,  and  crossing:  the  Ti2:ris  into 
Mesopotamia,  swept  the  Romans  from  the  open  coun- 
try. Nisibis  alone,  which  two  years  before  had  defied  all 
the  efforts  of  the  Mesopotamians,  held  out  against  him, 
and  even  this  stronghold  was  w'itbin  a  little  of  being 
taken. ^  According  to  one  writer,^  the  triumphant 
Parthians  even  crossed  the  Euphrates,  and  once  more 
spread  themselves  over  the  fertile  plains  of  Syria. 
Severus  was  forced  in  a.d.  197  to  make  a  second 
Eastern  expedition,  to  recover  his  lost  glory  and  justify 
the  titles  which  he  had  taken.  On  his  first  ari'ival  in 
Syria,  he  contented  himself  with  expelling  the  Par- 
thians from  the  province,  nor  was  it  till  late  in  the 
year,^  that,  having  first  made  ample  preparation,  he 
crossed  the  Euphrates  into  Mesopotamia. 

The  success  of  any  expedition  against  Parthia  de- 
pended greatly  on  the  dispositions  of  the  semi-dependent 
princes,  who  possessed  territories  ))orclering  upon  those 
of  the  two  great  empires.  Among  these  the  most  im- 
portant were  at  this  time  the  kings  of  Armenia  and 
Osrhoene.  Armenia  had  at  the  period  of  Niger's 
attempt  been  solicited  by  his  emissaries;  but  its  mo- 
narch had  then  refused  to  take  any  part  in  the  civil 
conflict.^     Subsequently,    however,    he    in  some    way 


'  See  Dio  Cass.  Ixxv.  9.  I      '   '  -Estate  igitur  jam  exeunte  in- 

^  Spartianus.       See   his    '  Life  of  |  grcssus,'   &c.     (Spartian.    Sev.  Imp. 
Severus,'    §  15,  where  we  are  told    §  10,  ;id  init.) 
that  Ssvcrus,   as  soon  as  he  arrived        ■*  Herodian.  iii.  1. 
in  Syrin,  '  I'arthds  mimmotit.''  | 


CH.  XX.]      SECOND  EASTERN  EXPEDITION  OF  SEVERUS.     339 

offended  Severus,  wlio,  when  he  i'c;iclied  the  East,  re- 
garded Armenia  as  a  hostile  State  requiring  instant 
subjugation.^  It  seems  to  have  been  in  the  summer  of 
A.D.  197,  soon  after  his  first  arrival  in  Syria,  that  Se- 
verus despatched  a  force  against  the  Armenian  pi'ince, 
who  was  named  (like  the  Parthian  monarch  of  the 
time)  Volagases.  That  prince  mustered  his  troops  and 
met  the  invaders  at  the  frontier  of  his  kingdom.  A 
battle  seemed  imminent ;  but  ere  the  fortune  of  war 
was  tried  the  Armenian  made  an  application  for  a 
truce,  which  was  gi  anted  by  the  Roman  leaders.  A 
breathing-space  being  thus  gained,  Volagases  sent  am- 
bassadors with  presents  and  hostages  to  the  Roman 
emperor  in  Syi-ia,  professed  to  be  animated  by  friendly 
feelin<>;s  towards  Rome,  and  entreated  Severus  to  allow 
him  terms  of  peace.  Severus  permitted  himself  to  be 
persuaded  ;  a  formal  treaty  was  made,  and  the  Arme- 
nian prince  even  received  an  enlargement  of  his  pre- 
vious territory  at  the  hands  of  his  mollified  suzerain.^ 

The  Osrhoenian  monarch,  who  bore  the  usual  name 
of  Abgarus,  made  a  more  complete  and  absolute  sub- 
mission. He  came  in  person  into  the  emperor's  camp, 
accompanied  by  a  numerous  body  of  archers,  and 
brins^ino;  with  him  his  sons  as  hostao-es.^  Severus  must 
have  hailed  with  especial  satisfaction  the  adhesion  of 
this  chieftain,  which  secured  him  the  undisturbed  pos- 
session of  Western  Mesopotamia  as  far  as  the  junction 
of  the  Khabour  with  the  Euphrates.  It  was  his  design 
to  proceed  himself  by  the  Euphrates  route,*  while  he 


'  Compare  on  thi^  subject  Hero-  '  'xapioaro),  which  must  denote  (he 
dian.  iii.  27  with  Dio  Cass.  Ixxv.  cession  to  Volagases  of  some  part 
9.  of    the    Rimnn    Armenia  (Armenia 

^  This  is  to  be  gathered  from  the  \  Minor), 
expression  of  Dio    (Ixxv.  9,  ad  fin.  j      '  Herodian.  iii.  27,  ad  fin. 
//epos  re    r^yS   'ApiieiflaS   km    r//  Eip'rjvy        *  Dio  Cass.  Ixxv.  9. 


?>40  THE    SIXTH    MOISTARCHY.  [cil     XX. 

sent  detachments  under  other  leaders  to  ravasre  Eastern 
Mesopotamia  and  Adiabene/ which  had  evidently  been 
re-occupied  by  the  Parthians.  To  secure  his  army 
from  want,  he  determined,  like  Trajan,^  to  build  a  fleet 
of  ships  in  Upper  Mesopotamia,  where  suitable  timber 
abounded,  and  to  march  his  army  down  the  left  bank 
of  the  Euphrates  into  Babylonia,  while  his  transports, 
laden  with  stores,  descended  the  coui'se  of  the  river.^ 
In  this  way  he  reached  the  neighbourhood  of  Ctesi- 
phon  without  suflfering  any  loss,  and  easily  captured  the 
tw^o  great  cities  of  Babylon  and  Seleucia,  which  on  his 
approach  wer^  evacuated  by  their  garrisons.  He  then 
proceeded  to  the  attack  of  Ctesi  phon  itself,  passing  his 
ships  probably  through  one  of  the  canals  which  united 
the  Tigris  with  the  Euphrates,  or  else  (like  Trajan)  con- 
veying them  on  rollers  across  the  neck  of  land  which 
separates  the  two  rivers. 

Volagases  had  taken  up  his  own  position  at  Ctesiphon, 
bent  on  defending  his  capital.  It  is  possible  that  the 
approach  of  Severus  by  the  line  of  march  which  he 
pursued  was  unexpected,^  and  that  the  sudden  pre- 
sence of  the  Romans  before  the  walls  of  Ctesiphon 
came  upon  the  Parthian  monarch  as  a  surprise.  He 
seems,  at  any  rate,  to  have  made  l^ut  a  poor  resistance. 
It  may  be  gathered,  indeed,  from  one  author^  that 
he  met  the  invadei'S  in  the  open  field,  and  fought 
a  battle  in  defence  of  Ctesiphon  before  allowing  him- 
self to  be  shut  up  within  its  walls.     But  after  the  city 


'  This  seems  to  be  the  only  way 
of  reconciling  Dio  (Ixxv.  9)  with 
Herodian  (iii.  28,  ad  init.) 

"  See  above,  page  310. 

'  Dio  Cass   1.  s.  c. 

*  Ilerodian's   narrative  is  absurd 


truth  in  his  statement  that  ih^ 
Romans  found  the  Parthians  un- 
prepared  {TitcjnednvTei  ol  'Vufia'io. 
a7Tni)a6i<evd6ro'(  Toii  [iapiidjioLi^  iii. 
30).  ^ 

Spartiamis     {fi^.v.     Imp.     §    IG- 


as  it  stands  ;  but  there  may  be  some    '  Ctesi  phon  ten'  piiho  i-rjc  p'^rvenit'.^ 


CH.  XX.]         CTESII'HON    TAKEN    BY    THE    ROMANS.  341 

was  once  invested  it  appears  to  have  been  quickly 
taken.  We  liear  of  no  such  resistance  as  that  which 
was  soon  afterwards  offered  by  Hatra.  The  soldiers 
of  Severus  succeeded  in  storming  Ctesiphon  on  the 
first  assault ;  the  Parthian  monarch  betook  himself  to 
flight,  accompanied  by  a  few  horsemen  ;  ^  and  the  seat 
of  empire  thus  fell  easily — a  second  time  within  the 
space  of  eighty-two  years — into  the  hands  of  a  foreign 
invader.  The  treatment  of  the  city  was  such  as  we 
mi^ht  expect  fi'om  the  ordinary  character  of  Roman 
warfare.  A  general  massacre  of  the  male  population 
was  made.  The  soldiers  were  allowed  to  plunder  both 
the  public  and  the  private  buildings  at  their  pleasure. 
The  precious  metals  accumulated  in  the  royal  treasury 
were  seized,  and  the  chief  ornaments  of  the  palace  were 
taken  and  carried  off.  Nor  did  blood  and  plunder  con- 
tent the  victors.  After  slauo-hterino;  the  adult  males 
they  made  prize  of  the  w^omen  and  children,  who  w^ere 
torn  from  their  homes  without  compunction  and  led 
into  captivity,  to  the  number  of  a  hundred  thousand.^ 

Notwithstanding  the  precautions  which  he  had  taken, 
Severus  appears  to  have  become  straitened  for  supplies 
about  the  time  that  he  captured  Ctesiphon.  His  sol- 
diers were  compelled  for  some  days  to  exist  on  roots, 
wdiich  produced  a  dangerous  dysentery.^  He  found 
himself  unable  to  pursue  Volagases,*  and  recognised 
the  necessity  of  i-etreating  before  disaster  overtook 
him.     He  could  not,  however,  return  by  the  route  of 


'  Herodian.  1.  s.  c.  Dio  implies 
the  flight  of  Vo'agases,  when  he 
says  ov  figVTOi  ovTE  rnv  Ovo7.6yainov 
k-e(U(j^£v  [6  Sf3'7poc]. 

-  Compare  Dio  Cass.  Ixxv.  9  with 
ITerodian.    iii.     30  ;     and    see   also    no  pursuit  was  attempted. 
Spartian.  Sev.  Imp.  §  16  :  '  Oppidum 


cepit,  et  regem  fugavlt,  et  plurimos 
i  I  iter  emit. ^ 

^  Spartian.  Sev.  Imp.  §  16. 

*  Ibid.  '  Longius  ire  non  potuit.' 
Dio.  however,  expresses  surprise  that 


342  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    XX. 

the  Euphrates,  since  his  army  had  upon  its  advance 
completely  exhausted  the  resources  of  the  Euphrates 
region.^  The  line  of  the  Tigris  was  therefore  pre- 
ferred for  tlie  retreat ;  and  while  the  ships  with  diffi- 
culty made  their  way  up  the  course  of  the  stream,  the 
army  pursued  its  march  upon  the  banks,  without,  so 
far  as  appears,  any  molestation.  It  happened,  however, 
that  the  route  selected  led  Severus  near  to  the  small 
state  of  Hatra,  ^vhich  had  given  him  special  offence  by 
supporting  the  cause  of  his  rival,  Niger  ;  and  it  seemed 
to  him  of  importance  that  the  inhabitants  should  re- 
ceive condign  punishment  for  this  act  of  audacity.  He 
may  also  have  hoped  to  eclipse  the  fame  of  Trajan 
by  the  capture  of  a  town  which  had  successfully  re- 
sisted that  liero.^  He  therefore  stopped  his  march  in 
order  to  lay  siege  to  the  place,  w^hich  he  attacked  with 
military  engines,  and  with  all  the  other  offensive  means 
known  at  the  time  to  the  Romans.  His  first  attempt 
was,  however,  easily  repulsed.^  The  walls  of  the  town 
were  strong,  its  defenders  brave  and  full  of  enterprise. 
They  bui'nt  the  siege-machines  brought  against  them, 
and  committed  great  havoc  among  the  soldiers.  Un- 
der these  circumstances  disorders  broke  out  among  the 
besiegers ;  mutinous  words  were  heard  ;  and  tlie  empe- 
ror thought  himself  compelled  to  have  recourse  to 
severe  measures  of  repression.  Having  put  to  death 
two  of  his  chief  officers,''  and  then  found  it  necessary  to 


'  Dio  Cass.  Ixxv.  9. 

'  See  above,  p.  315. 

'  Dio  Cass.  Ixxv.  10.  It  is  un- 
certain wliether  Ilcrodian  means  to 
desciibe  the  first  or  second  attack. 


and  internally  more  probable,  seems 
preferable. 

■*  One  of  these  was  Laetus,  vrho 
a  little  earlier  had  saved  Nisibis 
(supra,     p.    3:38,    note  ').       Severus 


He  mentions  one  siege  only,  and  j  (according  to  Dio)  grew  jealous  of 
places  it  before  that  of  Ctesiphon  i  him,  because  the  soldiers  declared 
(iii.  28,  29)  ;  but  the  narrative  of  i  that  they  would  follow  no  other 
Dio,    vvliich  is  at  once  more  minute,    leader.     Marius  Maxiinus,  however, 


CII.  XX.]  SEVERUS    REPULSED    FROJI    IIATRA.  343 

deny  that  he  had  given  orders  for  the  execution  of  one 
of  them,  he  l)roke  up  from  before  the  place  and  removed 
his  camp  to  a  distance. 

He  had  not,  liowever,  as  yet  relinquished  the  hope 
of  bringing  his  enterprise  to  a  successful  issue.  In  the 
security  of  his  distant  camp  he  constructed  fresh  en- 
gines in  increased  numbers,  collected  an  abundant 
supply  of  provisions,  and  made  every  preparation  for 
renewing  the  siege  with  effect  at  no  remote  period'.^ 
The  treasures  stored  up  in  the  city  were  reported  to  be 
great,  especially  those  which  the  piety  of  successive 
generations  had  accumulated  in  the  Temple  of  the 
!Sun.^  This  rich  booty  appealed  forcibly  to  the  cupidity 
of  the  emperor,  while  his  honour  seemed  to  recpiire 
that  he  should  not  suffer  a  comparatively  petty  town 
to  defy  his  arms  with  impunity.  He,  therefore,  after  a 
short  absence  retraced  his  steps,  and  appeared  a  second 
time  before  Hati'a  with  a  stronger  siege-train  and  a 
better  appointed  army  than  before.  But  the  Hatreni 
met  his  attack  with  a  resolution  equal  to  his  own. 
They  were  excellent  archers  ;  they  possessed  a  powerful 
force  of  cavalry;  the}^  knew  their  walls  to  be  strong; 
and  they  were  masters  of  a  peculiar  kind  of  fire, 
which  was  calculated  to  terrify  and  alarm,  if  not  greatly 
to  injure,  an  enemy  unacquainted  wnth  its  qualities.^ 
Severus  once  more  lost  almost  all  his  machines  ; 
the  Hatrene  cavalry  severely  handled  his  foragers;  his 
men  for  a  long  time  made  but  little  impression  upon 
the    walls,  while    they  suffered   grievously    from    the 


assigned    his    death  to  a   different 
cause,    and    placed  it  earlier.     (See 
Spartian.  Sev.  Imp.  §  15.) 
'  Dio  Ca^s.  Ixxv.  11. 


'  The  combustible  material  used 
is  said  to  have  been  naphtiia,  the 
flame  of  which  was  thought  to  be 
almost  inextinguishable.      (Dio  Ga-;s. 


-  Ibid.    Ixxv.   12.      The  ruins  of  '  Fr.    175,    §   2;  Ixxv.  11.     Compare 
this  temple  still   exist  at  El  Hadhr.    .Amm.  Marc,  xxiii.  6,  p.  406.) 

(See  the  Frontispiece  to  this  volume.) 


344  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.   XX. 

enemy's  slingers^  and  archers,  from  his  warlike  engines, 
and  especially,  we  are  told,  from  the  fiery  darts  which 
were  rained  upon  them  incessantly.^  However,  after 
enduring  these  various  calamities  for  a  length  of  time, 
the  perseverance  of  the  Romans  was  rewarded  by  the 
formation  of  a  practicable  breach  in  the  outer  wall ; 
and  the  soldiers  demanded  to  be  led  to  the  assault, 
confident  in  their  power  to  force  an  entrance  and  carry 
the  place.^  But  the  emperor  resisted  their  inclination. 
He  did  not  wish  that  the  city  should  be  stormed,  since 
in  that  case  it  must  have  been  given  up  to  indis- 
criminate pillage,  and  the  treasures  which  he  coveted 
would  have  become  the  prey  of  the  soldiery.  The 
Hatreni,  he  thought,  would  make  their  submission,  if 
he  only  gave  them  a  little  time,  now  that  they  must 
see  further  resistance  to  be  hopeless.  He  waited 
therefore  a  day,  expecting  an  offer  of  surrender.  But 
the  Hatreni  made  .no  sign,  and  in  the  night  restored 
their  wall  where  it  had  been  broken  down.  Severus 
then  made  up  his  mind  to  sacrifice  the  treasures  on 
which  his  heart  had  been  set,  and,  albeit  with  reluc- 
tance, gave  the  word  for  the  assault.  But  now  the 
legionaries  refused.  They  had  been  forbidden  to  attack 
when  success  was  certain  and  the  danger  trivial — they 
were  now  required  to  imperil  their  lives  while  the 
result  could  not  Init  be  doubtful.  Perhaps  they  divined 
the  emperor's  motive  in  withholding  them  from  the 
assault,  and  resented  it ;  at  any  rate  they  openly  de- 
clined to  execute  his  orders.  After  a  vain  attempt  to 
force  an  entrance  by  means  of  his  Asiatic  allies,  Severus 
desisted  from  his  und(U'taking.     The  summer  was  far 


Ilerodian.  iii.  28.  i      '  Ibid.  ch.  12. 

Dio  Cass.  Ixxv.  11,  ad  fin.  I 


CH.  XX.] 


INACTIOI^i    OF   VOLAGASES. 


345 


advanced;^  tlie  lieat  was  great;  disease  had  broken 
out  among  his  troops ;  above  all,  they  had  become 
demoralised,  and  their  obedience  could  no  longer  be 
depended  on.^  Severus  broke  up  from  before  Hatra  a 
second  time,  after  having  besieged  it  for  twenty  days,^ 
and  returned — by  what  route  we  are  not  told — into 
Syria. 

Nothing  is  more  surprising  in  the  history  of  this 
campaign  than  the  inaction  and  apparent  apathy  of 
the  Parthians.  Yolagases,  after  quitting  his  capital, 
seems  to  have  made  no  effort  at  all  to  hamper  or 
harass  his  adversary.  The  prolonged  resistance  of 
Hatra,  the  suffei'ings  of  the  Romans,  theii'  increasing 
difficulties  with  respect  to  provisions,  the  injurious 
effect  of  the  summer  heats  upon  their  unacclimatised 
constitutions,  would  have  been  irresistible  temptations 
to  a  prince  of  any  spirit  or  energy,  inducing  him  to 
advance  as  the  Romans  retired,  to  hang  ujdou  their 
rear,  to  cut  off  their  supplies,  and  to  render  their 
retreat  difficult,  if  not  .disastrous.  Volagases  appears 
to  have  remained  wholly  inert  and  passive.  His  con- 
duct is  only  explicable  by  the  consideration  of  the 
rapid  decline  which  Parthia  was  now  undergoing,  of 
the  general  decay  of  patriotic  spirit,  and  the  sea  of 
difficulties  into  which  a  monarch  was  plunged  who 
had  to  retreat  before  an  invader. 

The  expedition  of  Severus  was  on  the  whole  glorious 
for  Rome,  and  disastrous  for  Parthia,  though  the  glory 


'  Spartian  tells  us  {Sei\  Imp.  §  16) 
that  Ctesiphon  was  taken  at  the 
beginning  of  winter  ('hieniali  prope 
tempore').  Herodian  places  the 
siege  of  llatni  at  the  time  of  the 
great  heats  (iii.  2S). 

*  Dio  .says  th  it  n  le  of  the  officers 


of  Severus  offered  to  take  Hatra  if 
550  European  troops  were  placed  at 
his  disposal.  The  reply  of  Severus 
was,  '  Whence  am  I  to  get  such  a 
number  of  soldiers  ?  ' 
^  Dio  Cass.  Ix.xv.  13. 


346 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.    XX. 


of  the  victor  was  tarnished  at  the  close  l)y  his  failure 
before  Hatra.  It  cost  Parthia  a  second  province.  The 
Roman  emperor  not  only  I'ecovered  liis  previous  posi- 
tion in  Mesopotamia,  but  overstepping  the  Tigi'is,  esta- 
blished tlie  lloman  dominion  firmly  in  the  fertile  tract 
between  that  stream  and  the  Zas^ros  mountain-rano;e. 
The  title  of  '  Adiabenicus '  became  no  empty  boast. 
Adiabene,  or  the  tract  between  the  Zal)  rivers — pro- 
bably including  at  this  time  the  entire  low  region  at 
the  foot  of  Zagros  from  the  eastern  Khabour  on  the 
north  to  the  Adhem  towards  the  south — passed  under 
the  dominion  of  Rome,  the  monarch  of  the  country, 
hithei'to  a  Parthian  vassal,  becoming  her  trilnitary.^ 
Thus  the  imperial  standards  were  planted  permanently 
at  a  distance  less  than  a  degree  from  the  Parthian 
capital,  which,  with  the  great  cities  of  Seleucia  and 
Babylon  in  its  neighbourhood,  was  exposed  to  ])e  cap- 
tured almost  at  any  moment  by  a  sudden  and  rapid 
inroad. 

Volagases  survived  his  defeat  by  Severus  about  ten 
or  eleven  years.  For  this  space  Parthian  Instory  is 
once  more  a  blank,  our  authorities  containing  no  notice 
that  directly  touches  Parthia  during  the  period  in 
question.  The  stay  of  Severus  in  the  East~  during 
the  years  a.d.  200  and  201,  would  seem  to  indicate 
that  the  condition  of  the  Oriental  provinces  was  un- 
settled and  required  the  presence  of  the  Imperator. 
But  we  hear  of  no  effort  made  by  Parthia  at  this  time 
to  recover  her  losses — of  no  furtlier  collision  between 
Ler  troops  and  those  of  Rome ;  and  we  may  assume 


'  Spartian.  Sev.  Imp.  §  18  : — 
'  Adiabcnos'  in  tributaries  coegit.' 
Tliis  authority  is  superior  to  that 
of  Aurclius  Victor,  vviio  says — 
'  Adiabena     quoque,      ni    terrarum 


macies   deftpectaretvr,  in    tributaries 

co7)ccs,smet.     (De  dcs.  ^  20.) 

'•'  See    Clinton,     F.  R  vol.  i.  pp. 
204-208. 


CH.  XX.]  DEATH    OF   VOLAGASES    IV.  347 

tLerefoi'e  that  peace  was  preserved,  and  that  the  Par- 
thian monarch  acquiesced,  however  unwillingly,  in  the 
curtailment  of  his  territory.  Probably  internal,  no 
less  than  external,  difficulties  pressed  upon  him.  The 
diminution  of  Parthian  prestige  whicli  had  been  brought 
about  by  the  successive  victories  of  Trajan,  Avidius 
Cassius,  and  Severus  must  have  loosened  the  ties 
which  bound  to  Parthia  the  several  vassal  kingdoms. 
Her  suzerainty  had  been  accepted  as  that  of  the 
Asiatic  nation  most  competent  to  make  head  against 
European  intruders,  and  secure  the  native  races  in 
continued  independence  of  a  wholly  alien  power.^  It 
may  well  have  appeared  at  this  time  to  the  various 
vassal  states  that  the  Pai'thian  vigour  had  become  effete, 
that  the  qualities  which  had  advanced  the  race  to  the 
leadership  of  Western  Asia  were  gone,  and  that  unless 
some  new  power  could  be  raised  up  to  act  energetically 
against  Kome,  the  West  would  obtain  complete  domi- 
nion over  the  East,  and  Asia  be  absorbed  into  Europe. 
Thoughts  of  this  kind,  fermenting  among  the  subject 
populations,  would  produce  a  general  debility,  a  want 
both  of  [)ower  and  of  inclination  to  make  any  com- 
bined effort,  a  desire  to  wait  until  an  opportunity  of 
acting  with  effect  should  offer.  Hence  probably  the 
deadness  and  apathy  which  characterise  this  period, 
and  which  seem  at  first  sight  so  astonishing.  Distrust 
of  their  actual  leader  paralysed  the  nations  of  Western 
Asia,  and  they  did  not  as  yet  see  their  way  clearly 
towards  placing  themselves  under  any  other  guidance. 
Volagases  IV.  reigned  till  a.d.  208-9,  dying  thus 
about  two  yeai's  before  his  great  adversary,  who  ex- 
pired^ at  York,  February  4,  a.d.  211. 


'  Sea  above,  p.  42.  |      -  Clinton,  F.  R  vol.  i.  p.  218. 


348  THE    SIXTH    m6j!^ARCHY.  [cH.    XXL 


CHAPTER  XXL 

Struggle  between  the  two  Sons  of  Volagases  /F.,  Volagases  V.  and  Arta- 
ianus.  Continued  Sovereignty  of  both  Princes.  Ambition  of  Caracallus. 
His  Proceeding>i  in  the  East.  His  Resolve  to  quarrel  with  Farthia. 
First  Proposal  made  by  him  to  Artabanus.  Perplexity  of  Ai'tabanns. 
Caracallus  invades  Parthia.  His  Successes.,  and  Death.  Macrinus, 
defeated  by  Artabanus.,  consents  to  Terms  of  Peace.  Revolt  of  the 
Persians  under  Artaxerxes.  Prolonged  Struggle.  Death  of  Artabanus., 
and  Downfall  of  the  Parthian  Empire. 

Te'AevTaioS  yeyovev  6  'AprdiSavoi. — Dio  Cass.  Ixxx.  3. 

On  the  death  of  Volagases  IV.,  the  Parthian  crown 
was  disputed  between  his  two  sons,  Artabanus  and 
Volao-ases.  Accordiuo;  to  the  classical  writers,  the 
contest  resulted  in  favour  of  the  former,  whom  they 
regard  as  undisputed  sovereign  of  the  Parthians,  at 
any  rate  from  the  year  a.d.  216.^  It  appears,  how- 
ever, from  the  Parthian  coins,  that  both  the  brothers 
claimed  and  exercised  sovereignty  during  the  entire 
term  of  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  which  intervened 
between  the  death  of  Volao:ases  IV.  and  the  revolt  of 
the  Persians.^  Artabanus  must  beyond  all  doubt  have 
acquired  the  sole  rule  in  the  western  portions  of  the 
empire,  since  (from  a.d.  216  to  a.d.  226)  he  was  the 
only  monarch  known  to  the  Romans.  But  Volagases 
may  at  the  same  time  have  been    recognised  in  the 

'  The  negotiations  between  Cara-  i  this  year.     (See  Clinton,  F.  R.  vol. 
callus  and  Artabanus,  which  Hero-    i.  p.  224.) 

dian  describes  (iv.  18-20),  must  "  See  Lindsay,  History  and  Coin- 
have    taken    place  in  the  course  of   age,  pp.  113,  114. 


CH.  XXr.]  VOLAGASES    V.    AND    ARTABANUS    IV.  0*9 

more  eastern  provinces,  and  may  have  maintained 
himself  in  power  in  those  remote  regions  without 
interferino^  with  his  brother's  dominion  in  the  A¥est, 
Still  this  division  of  the  empire  must  naturally  have 
tended  to  weaken  it ;  and  the  position  of  Volagases 
has  to  be  taken  into  account  in  estimating  the  diffi- 
culties under  which  the  last  monarch  of  the  Arsacid 
series  found  himself  placed — difficulties,  to  which,  after 
a  struggle,  he  \V'as  at  last  forced  to  succumb.  Domestic 
dissension,  wars  with  a  powerful  neighbour  (Rome), 
and  internal  disaffection  and  rebellion  formed  a  com- 
bination, against  which  the  last  Parthian  monarch, 
albeit  a  man  of  considerable  energy,  strove  in  vain. 
But  he  strove  Ijravely  ;  and  the  closing  scenes  of  the 
empire,  in  which  he  bore  the  chief  part,  are  not  un- 
worthy of  its  best  and  palmiest  days. 

An  actual  civil  war  appears  to  have  raged  between 
the  two  Iji'others  for  some  years.  Caracallus,  who  in 
A.D.  211  succeeded  his  father,  Severus,  as  Emperor 
of  Rome,  congratulated  the  Senate  in  a.d.  212  on  the 
strife  still  ^'oinii:  on  in  Parthia,  which  could  not  fail 
(he  said)  to  inflict  serious  injury  on  that  hostile  state.^ 
The  balance  of  advantage  seems  at  first  to  have  in- 
clined towards  Volagases,  whom  Caracallus  acknow- 
ledged as  monarch  of  Parthia^  in  the  year  a.d.  215. 
But  soon  after  this  the  fortune  of  war  must  have 
turned  ;  for  subsequently  to  the  year  a.d.  215,  we  hear 
nothino^  more  of  Volacfases,  but  find  Caracallus  neofotiat- 
ing  with  Artabanus  instead,  and  treating  with  him  as 
undisputed  monarch  of  the    entire  Parthian    empire,'* 


Dio  Cass.  Ixxvii.  12.  lit   would    seem,    be  the  Ovo?.6ynipo'; 

I  of  the  former. 
"  Thid    Ix.xvii.    19    and   21.     The  i      ^  Herodian.    1.    s.    c.      Dio   Cass. 
ndpfjui    of  thj  latter  chapter  must,    l.xxviii.  1. 


350  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  XXI. 

That  this  was  not  his  real  position,  appears  from 
the  coins  ;  but  the  classical  evidence  may  be  accepted 
as  showing  that  from  the  year  a.d.  216,  Volagases 
ceased  to  have  much  power,  sinking  from  the  rank 
of  a  rival  monarch  into  that  of  a  mere  pretender,  who 
may  have  caused  some  trouble  to  the  established  sove- 
reign, but  did  not  inspire  serious  alarm. 

Artabanus,  having  succeeded  in  reducing  his  brother 
to  this  condition,  and  obtained  a  general  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  claims,  found  himself  almost  immediately 
in  circumstances  of  much  difficulty.  From  the  moment 
of  his  accession,  Caracallus  had  exhil)ited  an  inordinate 
ambition  ;  and  this  ambition  had  early  taken  the  shape 
of  a  special  desire  for  the  glory  of  Oriental  conquests. 
The  weak  and  dissolute  son  of  Severus  fancied  himself, 
and  called  himself,  a  second  Alexander  ;  ^  and  tlms  he 
was  in  honour  bound  to  imitate  that  hero's  marvellous 
exploits.  The  extension  of  the  Koman  territory  towards 
the  East  became  very  soon  his  great  object,  and  he 
shrank  from  no  steps,  however  base  and  dishonoural^le, 
which  promised  to  conduce  towards  the  accomplish- 
ment of  his  wishes.  As  early  as  a.d.  212  hesumuioned 
Abgarus,  the  tributary  king  of  Osrhoene,  into  his  pre- 
sence, and  when  he  unsuspectingly  complied,  seized 
him,  threw  him  into  j^rison,  and  declaring  his  terri- 
tories forfeited,  reduced  them  into  the  form  of  a  Roman 
province.^  Successful  in  tliis  })()ld  proceeding,  he  at- 
tempted to  deal  with  Armenia  in  the  same  way;  but, 
though  tlie  monarch  fell  foolishly  into  the  trap  set  for 
him,  the  nation  was  not  so  easily  managed.  The  Arme- 
nians flew  to  arms  on  learning  the  imprisonment  of  their 


'  Dio  Cass.  Ixxvii.  22;  Herodian.  !  '  Dio  Cass.  Ixxvii.  12.  (Compare 
iv.  IS-^  S\niuhcun,  I)e  Umi  JVirmi.sm.  G\h\)r,r\.  vol.  i.  p.  343;  Smith's 
Dis^.  xii  i  edition.) 


CH.  XXI.]     CARACALLUS  SENDS  ENVOYS  TO  ARTABANUS.     351 

king  and  royal  family  ;  ^  and  when,  three  jears  after- 
wards (a.d,  215),  Cai'acallus  sent  a  Roman  army  under 
Theocritus,  one  of  his  ftivourites,  to  chastise  them, 
they  inflicted  a  severe  defeat  on  their  assailant.^  But 
the  desire  of  Caracallus  to  effect  Oriental  conquests 
was  increased,  rather  than  diminished,  by  this  occur- 
rence. He  had  sought  a  quarrel  with  Parthia  as  early 
as  A.D.  214,  when  he  demanded  of  Volagases  the  sur- 
render of  two  refugees  of  distinction.^  The  ruptui-e, 
which  he  courted,  was  deferred  by  the  discreditable 
compliance    of  the    Great  King  with  his  requisition.* 

Volagases  surrendered  the  two  unfortunates  ;  and  the 
Roman  Enq:)eror  was  compelled  to  declare  himself 
satisfied  with  the  concession.  But  a  year  had  not 
elapsed  before  he  had  devised  a  new  plan  of  attack  and 
proceeded  to  put  it  in  execution. 

Volagases  V.  was  about  this  time  compelled  to  yield 
the  western  capital  to  his  brother ;  and  Artabanus  IV. 
became  the  representative  of  Parthian  power  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Romans.  Cai-acallus  in  the  summer  of  a.d. 
215,  having  transferred  his  residence  from  Nicomedia 
to  Antioch,  sent  ambassadors  from  the  last-named 
place  to  Artabanus,  who  Avere  to  present  the  Pai'thian 
monarch  with  presents  of  unusual  magnificence,^  and 
to  make  him  an  unheard-of  proposition.  '  The  Roman 
Emperor,'  said  the  despatch  with  which  they  were  in- 
trusted, '  could  not  fitly  wed  the  daughter  of  a  subject 
or  accept  the  position  of  son-in-law  to  a  private  per- 
son.    No  one  could  be  a  suitable  wife  to  him  who  was 


'  Dio  Cnss.  1.  s.  c. 

""  Ibid.  Ixxvii.  21. 

*  These  were  a  certain  Tiridates 
who  seems  to  have  been  an  Arme 

nian  prince,  and  a  Cynic  philosopher,  j  .^ „  '  ■)     - 

named  Antiochus  (Die  Cass.  Ix.xvn.  I 
19).  j 


'  Ibid.  Ixxvii.  21. 
°  Herodian.      iv.     18: — Tltfnrei    r?? 
Trpenfielnv     Koi    6  ui  pa     tc  a  a  ?}  S     vArji 

T  e        TTOX  V  T  E  i{  O  V  S  KCl'i         T  C:  XV  Tj  i 


352  THE    SIXTH   MONARCHY.  [CH.  XXI. 

not  a  princess.  He  therefore  asked  the  Parthian 
monarch  for  the  hand  of  his  daughter.  Rome  and 
Parthia  divided  between  them  the  sovereignty  of  the 
world ;  united,  as  they  would  be  by  this  marriage,  no 
longer  recognising  any  boundary  as  separating  them, 
they  would  constitute  a  j)ower  that  could  not  but  be 
irresistible.  It  would  be  easy  for  them  to  reduce 
under  their  sway  all  the  barbarous  races  on  the  skirts 
of  their  empires,  and  to  hold  them  in  subjection  by  a 
flexible  system  of  administration  and  government. 
The  Koman  infantry  was  the  best  in  the  world,  and  in 
steady  hand-to-hand  fighting  must  be  allowed  to  be 
unrivalled  The  Parthians  surpassed  all  nations  in  the 
number  of  their  cavalry  and  in  the  excellency  of  their 
archers.  If  these  advantages,  instead  of  being  sepa- 
rated, were  combined,  and  the  various  elements  on 
which  success  in  war  depends  were  thus  brought  into 
harmonious  union,  there  could  be  no  difficulty  in  esta- 
blishing and  maintaining  a  universal  monarchy.  Were 
that  done,  the  Parthian  spices  and  rare  stuft's,  as  also 
the  Koman  metals  and  manufactures,  would  no  longer 
need  to  be  imj^orted  secretly  and  in  small  quantities 
by  merchants,  but,  as  the  two  countries  would  form 
together  but  one  nation  and  one  state,  there  would  be  a 
free  interchano:e  amonsf  all  the  citizens  of  their  various 
products  and  commodities.'  ^ 

The  recital  of  this  despatch  threw  the  Parthian 
monarch  into  extreme  perplexity.  He  did  not  believe 
that  the  proposals  made  to  him  were  serious,  or  in- 
tended to  have  an  honourable  issue.  The  project 
broached  appeared  to  him  altogether  extravagant,  and 
such    as   no    one  in   his  senses  could  entertain  for  a 


Herodian.  iv.  18. 


CII.  XXI.]        REPLY  OF  ARTABANUS.  353 

moment.  Yet  lie  was  anxious  not  to  offend  the  master 
of  two-and -thirty  legions/  nor  even  to  give  him  a 
pretext  for  a  rupture  of  amicable  relations.  Accord- 
ingly he  temporised,  contenting  himself  with  setting 
fortli  some  ol)jections  to  the  request  of  Caracallus,  and 
asking  to  be  excused  compliance  w^th  it.^  '  Such  a 
union,  as  Caracallus  proposed,  could  scarcely,'  he  said, 
'  prove  a  happy  one.  The  wife  and  husband,  differing 
in  language,  habits,  and  mode  of  life,  could  not  but 
become  estranged  from  one  another.  There  was  no 
lack  of  patricians  at  Rome,  possessing  daughters  with 
Avhom  the  emperor  might  wed  as  suitably  as  the 
Parthian  kings  did  with  the  females  of  their  own  royal 
house.  It  was  not  fit  that  either  family  should  sully 
its  blood  by  mixture  wath  the  other.' 

There  is  some  doubt  whether  Caracallus  construed 
this  response  as  an  absolute  refusal,  and  thereupon 
undertook  his  expedition,  or  w^hether  he  regarded  it 
as  inviting  further  negotiation,  and  sent  a  second 
embassy,  whose  arguments  and  persuasions  induced 
Artabanus  to  consent  to  the  proposed  alliance.  The 
contemporary  historian,  Dio,  states  positively  that  Arta- 
banus  refused  to  give  his  daughter  to  the  Roman 
monarch,  and  that  Caracallus  undertook  his  expedition 
to  avenge  this  insult ;  ^  but  Herodian,  another  con- 
temporary, declares  exactly  the  reverse.  According 
to  him,  the  Roman  Emperor,  on  receiving  the  reply  of 
Artabanus,  sent  a  new  embassy  to  urge  his  suit,  and  to 
protest  with  oaths  that  he  w^as  in  earnest  and  had  the 
most  fi'iendly  intentions.  Artabanus  upon  this  yielded, 
addressed  Caracallus  as  his  son-in-law,  and  invited  him 


'  See  Dio  Cass.  Iv.  23,  24.  .TrapTjr  ei  to.      (Herodian.    iv.    19.) 

'   T(i  fx^v  TTjiuTa  Toinvra  'EniaTe7.Au)v,  j       '  l)io  Cass.  Ixviii.  1. 


354 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.    XXI. 


to  come  and  fetch  home  his  bride.  Herodian  de- 
scribes with  much  miuiiteness,  and  with  a  good  deal  of 
picturesque  effect,  the  stately  march  of  the  Imperial 
prince  through  the  Parthian  territory,  the  magnificent 
welcome  which  he  received,  and  the  peaceful  meeting 
of  the  two  kings  in  the  plain  before  Ctesiphon,  which 
was  suddenly  interrupted  by  the  meditated  treason  of 
the  crafty  Roman.  Taken  at  disadvantage,  the  Par- 
thian monarch  with  difficulty  escaped,  while  his  soldiers 
and  other  subjects,  incapable  of  making  any  resist- 
ance, were  slaughtered  like  sheep  by  their  assailants, 
who  then  plundered  and  ravaged  the  Parthian  terri- 
tory at  their  will,  and  returned  laden  with  spoil  into 
Mesopotamia.     In  general,  Dio  is  a  more  trustworthy 


'  Herodian.  iv.  20.  The  full  pas- 
sage in  Herodian  is  as  follows: — 
'But  when  Antoninus  urged  his 
request,  and  added  fresli  gifts  and 
oaths  in  confirmation  of  his  serious 
meaning  and  real  friendliness,  the 
Barbarian  yielded,  and  promised  to 
give  him  his  daughter,  and  addressed 
him  as  his  future  son-in-law.  Now, 
when  this  was  noised  abroad,  the 
Parthians  made  ready  to  receive  the 
Roman  monarch,  and  were  trans- 
ported with  joy  at  the  prospect  of  an 
eternal  peace.  Antoninus  theieupou 
crossed  tiie  rivers  without  hindrance, 
and  entered  Parthia,  just  as  if  it 
were  his  own  land.  Everywhere 
along  his  route  the  peo])le  greeted 
him  with  sacrifices,  and  dressing 
their  altars  with  g.irlands,  ofFerecl 
upon  them  all  manner  of  spices  and 
incense  ;  whereat  he  made  pretence 
of  l)eing  vastly  pleased.  As  his 
journey  now  approached  its  close, 
and  he  drew  near  to  the  Parthian 
Court,  Artabanus,  instead  of  await- 
ing his  arrival,  went  out  ;;nd  met 
him  in  the  spacious  plain  before  the 
city,  with  intent  to  entertain  h'u 
daughter's  bridegroom  and  his  own 
son-in-law.      Meanwhile    the   whole 


multitude  of  the  barbarians,  crowned 
v\  illi  freshly  gathered  flowers,  and 
clad  in  garments  worked  with  gold 
and  variously  dyed,  were  keeping 
holiday,  and  dancing  gracefully  to 
the  sound  of  the  flute,  the  pipe,  and 
the  drum,  an  amusement  wherein 
they  take  great  delight  after  they 
have  indulged  freely  in  wine.  Now, 
after  all  the  people  had  come  to- 
gether, they  got  off  their  horses,  hung 
their  quivers  and  their  bows,  and 
gave  themselves  wholly  to  libations 
and  revels.  The  concourse  of  bar- 
barians was  very  great,  and  they 
stood  arranged  in  no  oi-dcr,  since 
they  did  not  apprehend  any  danger, 
but  were  all  endeavouring  to  catch  a 
sight  of  the  bridegroom.  Suddenly 
Antoninus  gives  his  men  the  signal 
to  fall  on,  and  massacre  the  bar- 
barians. These,  amazed  at  the  at- 
tack, and  finding  themselves  struck 
and  wounded,  forthwith  took  to 
flight.  Artaljanus  was  hurried  away 
by  his  guards,  and  put  on  a  liorse, 
whereby  he  escaped  with  a  few  fol- 
lowers. The  rest  of  tlie  barbarians 
wore  (  ut  to  pieces,  since  they  could 
not  reach  their  horses,  which,  when 
they  dismounted,  they  had  allowed 


CII.  XXr.J         TREACHEROUS  ATTACK  OF  CAEACALLUS.         355 

authority  than  Herodian,  and  most  moderns  have  there- 
fore preferi'ed  his  version  of  the  story.^  But  it  may  be 
questioned  whether  in  this  particular  case  the  truth 
has  not  heen  best  preserved  by  the  historian  on  whom 
under  ordinary  circumstances  we  place  less  depend- 
ence. If  so  disgraceful  an  outrage  as  that  described 
by  Herodian  was,  indeed,  committed  by  the  head  of 
the  Roman  State  on  a  foreign  potentate,  Dio,  as  a  great 
State  official,  would  naturally  be  anxious  to  gloss  it 
over.  There  are,  moreover,  internal  difficulties  in  his 
narrative;^  and  on  more  than  one  point  of  importance 
he  conti'adicts  not  only  Herodian,  but  also  Spartianus.^ 
It  is  therefore  not  improbable  that  Herodian  has  given 
with  most  truth  the  general  outline  of  the  expedition 


to  graze  freely  over  the  plain  ;  nor 
were  ihey  able  to  make  use  of  tlieir 
legs,  since  these  were  entingled  in 
tlie  long  flowing  garments  which  de- 
scended to  their  heel-.  Many  too 
had  come  wilhout  quivers  or  bows, 
as  they  were  not  wanted  at  a  wed- 
ding. Antoninus,  wlien  he  had 
made  a  vast  slaughter,  and  taken  a 
multitude  of  prisoners,  and  a  rich 
booty,  moved  off  without  meeting 
any  resistance.  He  allowed  his 
soldiers  to  burn  all  the  cities  and 
villages,  and  to  carry  away  as  plunder 
whatever  they  chose.'  No  doubt 
this  passage  contains  a  good  deal  of 
rhetoric ;  but  it  describes  a  scene 
which  we  can  scarcely  suppose  to  be 
imaginary. 

'  Ramsay  in  Smith's  Biog.  Did. 
vol.  i.  p.  608  ;  Cliampagny,  Les  Ce- 
sars  (In  dine.  «S/tV/e,  vol.  i.  p.  385,  &c. 

'^  Tliere  is  something  supicious  in 
the  extreme  brevity  of  Dio's  narrative 
(Ixxviii.  1),  and  in  his  statement 
that  he  has  no'hing  iiuportunt  to  tell 
of  the  war  beyond  the  fact  that  when 


two  soldiers  were  qnarrelling  over  a 
wine-skin,  Caracallus  ordered  them 
to  cut  it  in  two  with  their  swords, 
and  they  obeyed  him.  His  account 
of  the  war  in  this  place  does  not  har- 
monise with  his  statement  in  ch.  26, 
that  Artabanus  was  violently  angry 
at  the  tre<atment  which  he  had  re- 
ceived and  determined  to  resent  it. 
Again,  the  price  which  he  allows 
that  Macrinus  paid  for  peace  (ch. 
27),  is  altogether  exorbitant  unless 
it  was  agreed  to  as  compensation 
for  some  exlraoidinary  outrage. 

'  Dio  says  that  there  was  no  en- 
gagement at  all  between  the  Par- 
thians  and  the  Romans  (Ixxviii.  1). 
Spartianus  speaks  of  a  battle  in 
which  Caracallus  defeated  the  Sa- 
tra))s  of  Artabanus  (Ant.  CarncaU. 
§  6.  Dio  makes  the  countries 
invaded  Adiabene  and  Media.  Spar- 
tianus indicates  a  more  .southern 
locality  by  saying  that  the  invading 
army  passed  through  Babylonia, 
('per  Babylonios,'  1.  s.  c.) 


356  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  XXT. 

of  Caracallus,  tbougb,  with  that  love  of  effect  which 
characterises  him,  he  may  have  unduly  embellished  the 
narrative. 

The  advance  of  Caracallus  was,  if  Spartianus  is  to  l)e 
believed,  through  Babylonia,^  The  return  may  have 
been  (as  Dio  seems  to  indicate  that  it  was  ^)  by  the 
way  of  the  Tigi'is,  through  Adiabene  and  Upper  Meso- 
potamia. It  was  doubtless  on  the  return  that  Cara- 
callus committed  a  second  and  wholly  wanton  outrage 
upon  the  feelings  of  his  adversary,  by  violating  the 
sanctity  of  the  Parthian  royal  sepulchres,  and  dis- 
persing their  contents  to  the  four  winds.  These  tombs 
were  situated  at  Arbela,  in  Adiabene,  a  place  which 
seems  to  have  been  always  regarded  as  in  some  sort  a 
City  of  the  Dead.^  The  useless  insult  and  impiety  were 
worthy  of  one  who,  like  Caracallus,  was  '  equally  de- 
void of  judgment  and  humanity,'  and  who  has  been 
pronounced  by  the  most  unimpassioned  of  historians 
to  have  been  '  the  common  enemy  of  mankind.'  ^  A 
severe  reckoninof  was  afterwards  exacted  for  the  indis:- 
nity,  which  was  felt  by  the  Parthians  with  all  the 
keenness  wherewith  Orientals  are  wont  to  regard  any 
infringement  of  the  sanctity  of  the  grave. 

Caracallus  appears  to  have  passed  the  winter  at 
Edessa,  amusing  himself  with  hunting  and  charioteer- 
ing after  the  fatigues  of  his  campaign.'^     In  the  spring 


*  Spartianus    says    'per  Cadiisiosiihe   Journal  of  As.  Sociefp  ior  18Q5, 
et  Bab3'loiiio.s'  (Ant.  Cdmcnll.  ^  i));\  p.    11)5.   note".)     Rab'iinical  tradi- 


but  tliis  is  impossible,  since  the 
Cadusii  lay  upon  the  Caspian. 

^  Dio  Cass.  Ixxviii.  1.  The  men- 
tion of  Arbela  indicates  this  route. 

^  Assyrian  and  Persian  nionarchs 
constantly  conveyed  to  Arbela  great 
criminals  to  be  executed  ihere.   (See 


tion    placed  there  the  tomb  of  Seth. 
(Schindler's  Pentaglott,  col.  144.) 

'  See  Gibbon,  vol.  i.  p.  273 
(Smitb's  edition).  Both  the  phrases 
quoted  are  used  by  this  writer. 

^  Herodian.  iy.  21 ;  Spartian.  Ant 
Car.  §  6. 


CII.  AXl.]  COL^sTEIl    ATTACK    OF    ARTABANUS.  357 

lie  tlireatened  another  advance  into  Parthian  territory, 
and  threw  the  Medes  and  Parthians  into  great  alarm.^ 
He  had  not,  however,  the  opportunity  of  renewing  his 
attack.  On  April  8,  a.d.  217,  having  quitted  Edessa 
with  a  small  retinue  for  the  purpose  of  visiting  a  famous 
temple  of  the  Moon-God  near  Carrhae,  he  was  surprised 
and  murdei'ed  on  the  way  by  Julius  Martialis,  one  of  his 
guards.^  His  successor,  Macrinus,  though  a  Praetorian 
pi-efect,  was  no  soldier,  and  would  willingly  have  re- 
tired at  once  from  the  war.  But  the  passions  of  the 
Parthians  had  been  roused.  Artabanus  possessed  the 
energy  and  spirit  which  most  of  the  recent  monarchs 
had  lacked  ;  and  thoug-h  defeated  when  taken  at  dis- 
advantage,  and  unable  for  some  months  to  obtain  any 
revenge,  had  employed  the  winter  in  the  collection  of  a 
vast  army,  and  was  determined  to  exact  a  heavy  retri- 
bution for  the  treacherous  massacre  of  Ctesiphon  and  the 
wanton  impiety  of  Arbela.  He  had  already  taken  the 
field  and  conducted  his  troops  to  the  neighl)ourhood  of 
the  Poman  frontier  ^vhen  Caracallus  lost  his  life.  Ma- 
crinus was  scarcely  acknowledged  emperor  when  he 
found  that  the  Parthians  were  close  at  hand,  that  the 
frontier  was  crossed,  and  that  unless  a  treaty  could  be 
concluded  he  must  risk  a  battle.^ 

Under  these  circumstances  the  unwarlike  empei'or 
hurriedly  sent  ambassadors  to  the  Parthian  camp,  with 
an  offer  to  restore  all  the  prisoners  made  in  the  late 
campaign  as  the  price  of  peace.  Artabanus  unhesita- 
tingly rejected  the  overture,  Ijut  at  the  same  time  in- 
formed his  adversary  of  the  terms  on  which  he  was 
willing  to  treat.     Macrinus,  he  said,  must  not  only  re- 


'  Dio  Cas;s.  Ixxviii.  3.  j      '  Herodian.     iv.     27;    Dio    Cass 

'-■  Ibid  Ixxviii.  r>:  Herr^Ji^p.  iv.  24;  |  Ixxviii.  26. 
Sparc,  j.s.c. ;  £ufcp.  £r€v.\m.  11.     I 


358 


THE    SIXTH   MONARCHY. 


[CH.    XXI. 


store  the  j^risoners,  but  must  also  consent  to  rebuild  all 
the  towns  and  castles  wliicb  Caracallus  liad  laid  in  ruins, 
must  make  compensation  for  the  injury  done  to  the 
tombs  of  the  kings,  and  further  must  cede  Mesopota- 
mia to  the  Parthians.-^  It  was  impossible  for  a  Koman 
Emperor  to  consent  to  such  demands  without  first  try- 
ing the  fortune  of  war,  and  Macrinus  accordingly  made 
up  his  mind  to  fight  a  battle.  The  Parthian  prince 
had  by  this  time  advanced  as  far  as  Nisibis,  and  it 
was  in  the  neighbourhood  of  that  city  that  the  great 
struggle  took  place. 

The  battle  of  Nisibis,  which  terminated  the  long  con- 
test between  Kome  and  Parthia,  was  the  fiercest  and 
best-contested  which  was  ever  fought  between  the  rival 
powers.  It  lasted  for  the  space  of  tliree  days.^  The 
army  of  Artabanus  was  numerous  and  well-appointed  : 
like  almost  every  Parthian  force,  it  was  strong  in 
cavalry  and  archers  ;  and  it  had  moreover  a  novel 
addition  of  considerable  importance,  consisting  of  a 
corps  of  picked  soldiers,  clad  in  complete  armour,  and 
carrying  long  spears  or  lances,  who  were  mounted  on 
camels.^  Tlie  Roman  legionaries  were  supported  by 
numerous  light-armed  troojjs,  and  a  powerful  body  of 
Mauritanian  cavalry.*  According  to  Dio,  the  first  en- 
gagement was  brought  on  accidentally  by  a  contest 
which  arose  among  the  soldiers  for  the  possession  of  a 
watering-place.^  Herodian  tells  us  tliat  it  commenced 
with  a  fierce  assault  of  the  Parthian  cavalry,  who 
charged  the  Romans  witli    loud    shouts,  and  j)Oured 


into  their  ranks  flight  after  flight  of  arrows. 


A  lone: 


'  Dio  Cass.  Ixxviii.  26. 

*  I  follow  Iiere  the  narrative  of 
Herodian  (iv.  .30),  since  the  passage 
of  Dio  whit  h  contained  an  account 


of  the  struirgle  is  too  much  mutilated 
to  be  intelligible. 

'   Herodian.  iv.  28. 

'  D)i(l.  iv.  80  (p.  172). 

^  Dio  Cass.  Ixxviii.  26. 


CII.    XXI.]  GREAT    BATTLE    OF    NISIBIS.  359 

struggle  followed.  The  Romans  suffered  greatly  from 
the  bows  of  the  horse-ai'chers,  and  from  the  lances  of 
the  corps  mounted  on  camels ;  and  though,  when  they 
could  reach  their  enemy,  they  had  always  the  supe- 
riority in  close  combat,  yet  after  a  while  their  losses 
from  tlie  cavalry  and  camels  forced  tliem  to  retreat. 
As  they  retired  they  strewed  the  ground  with  spiked 
balls  and  other  contrivances  for  injuring  the  feet  of 
animals ;  and  this  stratagem  was  so  far  successful  that 
the  pursuers  soon  found  themselves  in  difficulties,  and 
the  armies  respectively  retired,  without  any  decisive 
result,  to  their  camps. 

The  next  day  there  was  again  a  combat  from  morn- 
ing to  night,  of  which  we  have  no  description,  but 
which  equally  terminated  without  any  clear  advantage 
to  either  side.^  The  fight  w^as  then  renewed  for  the 
third  time  on  the  third  day,  with  the  difference  that 
the  Parthians  now  directed  all  their  efforts  towards 
surrounding  the  enemy,  and  thus  capturing  their  en- 
tire force."  As  they  greatly  outnumbered  the  Romans, 
these  last  found  themselves  compelled  to  extend  their 
line  unduly,  in  order  to  meet  the  Parthian  tactics ;  and 
the  weakness  of  the  extended  line  seems  to  have  o-iven 
the  Parthians  an  opportunity  of  throwing  it  into  con- 
fusion, and  thus  causing  the  Roman  defeat.^  Macrinus 
took  to  flight  among  the  first ;  and  his  hasty  retreat  dis- 
couraged his  troops,"*  ^vho  soon  aftei'wards  acknow- 
ledged themselves  beaten,  and  retired  within  the  lines 
of  their  camp.     Both    armies    had    suffered   severely. 


'  Herodian.  iv.  30  (p.  173).  I  gardecl,  the   Romans  as  vanquished. 

"  So  Herodian.  1.  s.  c.  '.      *  See  ihe  fragment  of  Die,  which 

'  Herodian  makes  the  third  day's  |  (as    restored    bv    Faliricius)    reads 

battle    terminate,   like  those  of  the    thus : — tjj    tov   ilaKphov   or)-/)   aOv/iT)- 

two    preceding   days,   wittiout  deci-    aditevoi  y-T/jfjTjaav. 

sive   result ;    but   Dio  evidently  re- 


360  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.       •  [CH.  XXI 

Herodian  describes  the  heaps  of  dead  as  piled  to  such 
a  height  that  the  manceuvres  of  the  troops  were  im- 
peded by  them,  and  at  last  the  two  coutending  hosts 
could  scarcely  see  one  another !  Both  armies,  there- 
fore, desired  peace.^  The  soldiers  of  Macrinus,  who 
had  never  had  much  confidence  in  their  leader,  were 
demoralised  by  ill  success,  and  showed  themselves  in- 
clined to  throw  off  the  restraints  of  discipline.  Those  of 
Artabanus,  a  militia  rather  than  a  standing  force,  were 
unaccustomed  to  sustained-  efforts  ;  and  having  been 
now  for  sonie  months  in  the  field,  had  grown  weary, 
and  wished  to  return  home.  Macrinus  under  these 
circumstances  re-opened  negotiations  with  his  adver- 
sary. He  was  prepared  to  concede  something  more 
than  he  had  proposed  originally,  and  he  had  reason 
to  believe  that  the  Parthiau  monarch,  having  found  the 
Roman  resistance  so  stubborn,  would  be  content  to  in- 
sist on  less.  The  event  justified  his  expectations.  Ar- 
tabanus relinquished  his  demand  for  the  cession  of 
Mesopotamia,  and  accepted  a  pecuniary  compensation 
for  his  wrongs.  Besides  restoring  the  captives  and  the 
booty  carried  off  by  Caracallus  in  his  raid,  Macrinus 
had  to  pay  a  sum  exceeding  a  million  and  a  half  of  our 
money.  Rome  thus  concluded  lier  transactions  with 
Parthia,  after  nearly  three  centuries  of  struggle,  by 
ignominiously  purchasing  a  peace.~ 

It  might  have  been  expected  that  the  glory  of  this 
achievement  would  have  brought  the  troubles  of  Ar- 
tabanus to  a  close  ;  and  if  they  did  not  cause  the  pre- 
tender who  still  disputed  liis  possession  of  the  throne 
to    submit,  would  at  any    rate    have    put  an  end  to 


'  See  Dio  Cass.  Ixxviii.  27.  |  mcnt   was  by  way  of  presents  to  the 

'^  The  ignominy  was  cloaked  under  !  Parthian    monarch    and    his    lords 
the  transparent  fiction  that  the  pay-    (Dio  Cass.  1.  s.  c). 


CH.  XXI.]         ARTABANUS  MAKES  PEACE  WITH  ROME.  361 

any  disaffection  on  tlie  part  of  tlie  subject  nations  that 
the  previous  ill-success  of  Parthia  in  her  Roman  wars 
might  have  provoked.  But  in  the  histories  of  nations 
and  empires  we  constantly  find  that  noble  and  gallant 
efforts  to  retrieve  disaster  and  pi-event  the  ruin  conse- 
quent upon  it  come  too  late.  AVhen  matters  have 
gathered  to  a  head,  when  steps  that  commit  important 
persons  have  been  taken,  when  classes  or  races  have 
been  encouraged  to  cherish  hopes,  when  plans  have 
been  formed  and  advanced  to  a  certain  point,  the 
course  of  action  that  has  been  contemplated  and 
arranged  for  cannot  suddenly  be  given  up.  The 
cause  of  discontent  is  removed,  but  the  effects  remain. 
Affections  have  l)een  alienated,  and  the  alienation  still 
continues.  A  certain  additional  I'esentment  is  even  felt 
at  the  tardy  repentance,  or  revival,  which  seems  to 
cheat  the  discontented  of  that  general  sympathy 
whereof  without  it  they  would  have  been  secure.  In 
default  of  their  original  grievance,  it  is  easy  for  them 
to  discover  minor  ones,  to  exao-o-erate  these  into  im- 
portance,  and  to  find  in  them  a  sufficient  reason  for 
persistence  in  the  intended  course.  Hence  revolutions 
often  take  place  just  when  the  necessity  for  them  seems 
to  be  past,  and  kingdoms  perish  at  a  time  when  they 
have  beo^un  to  show  themselves  deservino:  of  a  lono-er 
term  of  life. 

It  is  impossible  at  the  present  day  to  form  any  trust- 
worthy estimate  of  the  real  value  of  those  grounds  of 
complaint  which  the  Persians,  in  common  doubtless 
with  other  suV)ject  races,  thought  that  they  had  against 
the  Parthian  rule.  AVe  can  well  understand  that  the 
supremacy  of  any  dominant  race  is  irksome  to  the 
aliens  who  have  to  submit  to  it ;  but  such  information 
as  we  possess  fails  to  show  us  either  anything  seriously 


3"62  THE    SIXTH    ZMOISTARCIIY.  fcTT.    XXI. 

oppressive  in  the  general  system  of  the  Parthian  govern- 
ment, or  any  special  grievance  whereof  the  Persians 
had  to  complain.  The  Parthians  were  tolerant ;  they 
did  not  interfere  with  the  religious  prejudices  of  their 
subjects,  or  attempt  to  enforce  uniformity  of  creed  or 
worship.  Their  military  system  did  not  press  over- 
heavily  on  the  subject  peoples,  nor  is  there  any  reason 
to  believe  that  the  scale  of  their  taxation  was  excessive. 
Such  tyranny  as  is  charged  upon  certain  Parthian  mo- 
narchs  is  not  of  a  kind  that  would  have  been  sensibly 
felt  by  the  conquered  nations,  for  it  was  exercised  upon 
none  ^vho  were  not  Parthians.  If  we  endeavour  to  form 
a  distinct  notion  of  the  grievances  under  which  the  Per- 
sians suffered,  they  seem  to  have  amounted  to  no  more 
than  this :  1.  That  high  offices,  whetlier  military  or 
civil,  were  for  the  most  part  confined  to  those  of  Par- 
thian l)lood,  and  not  thrown  open  to  Parthian  subjects 
generally  ;  2.  That  the  priests  of  the  Persian  religion 
were  not  held  in  any  special  honoui-,^  but  placed 
merely  on  a  par  with  the  religious  ministers  of  the 
other  subject  races ;  3.  That  no  advantage  in  any 
resjDect  was  allowed  to  the  Persians  over  the  rest  of 
the  conquered  peoples,  notwithstanding  that  they  had 
for  so  many  years  exercised  supremacy  over  Western 
Asia,  and  given  to  the  list  of  Asiatic  worthies  such 
names  as  those  of  Cyrus  and  Darius  IT3^staspis.  It 
must,  however,  be  confessed  that  the  account  whicli 
has  come  down  to  us  of  the  times  in  question  is  ex- 
ceedingly meagre  and  incomplete;  that  we  cannot  say 
whether  the  Persians  had  not  also  other  grounds  of 
complaint  besides  tliose  that  are  known  to  us;  and, 
more  especially,  that  we  have  no  means  of  determining 


'  AgathiafJ,  ii.  2G. 


CIT.  XXI.]  GKIEVAlSrCES    OF   THE    PERSIAIS^S.  363 

what  tlie  actual  pressure  of  the  grievances  complained 
of  Avas,  or  whether  it  did  not  reach  to  that  degree  of 
severity  which  moderns  mostly  hold  to  justify  disaf 
fection  and  rebellion.  On  the  whole,  perhaps,  our 
conclusion  must  be,  that  the  best  justification  of  the 
outbreak  is  to  be  found  in  its  success.  The  Parthians 
had  no  right  to  their  position  but  such  as  arose  out 
of  the  law  of  the  stronger — 

The  ancient  rule,  the  good  old  plan, 
That  those  shall  take  who  have  the  power, 
And  those  shall  keep  who  can — 

when  the  time  came  that  they  had  lost  this  pre- 
eminence, superiority  in  strength  having  passed  from 
them' to  a  nation  hitherto  counted  among  their  subjects, 
it  was  natural  and  right  that  the  seat  of  authority 
should  shift  with  the  shift  in  the  balance  of  power,  and 
that  the  leadership  of  the  Persians  should  be  once 
more  recognised. 

If  the  motives  which  actuated  the  nation  of  the 
Persians  in  risino;  ao-ainst  their  masters  are  thus  obscure 
and  difficult  to  be  estimated,  still  less  can  we  form  any 
decided  judgment  upon  those  which  caused  their  leader, 
Artaxerxes,  to  attempt  his  perilous  entei'prise.  Could 
we  trust  implicitly  the  statement  of  Agathias,  that 
Artaxerxes  was  himself  a  Magus,  initiated  in  the 
deepest  mysteries  of  the  Order,^  we  should  have 
grounds  for  considering  that  religious  zeal  was,  at  any 
rate,  a  leading  motive  of  his  conduct.  It  is  certain 
that  among  the  principal  changes  consequent  upon  his 
success  was  a  relio-ious  i-evolution — the  sul)stitution  for 
Parthian  tolerance  of  all  faiths  and  worships,  of  a 
rigidly  enforced  uniformity  in  religion,  the  establish- 

'  Agathias,  ii.  25.     'Hv  di  ye  oi'ro?  ry  fiayiK^  Ka-oxoi  Uf)ovpyi(f,  koI  avrovp. 
)0?  7(jv    arrnj]f)r]Tuv. 


364 


THE    SIXTH    :\IOT^ATlCHY. 


[CH.    XXI. 


ment  of  the  Magi  in  power,  and  the  bloody  persecution 
of  all  such  as  declined  obedience  to  the  precepts  of 
Zoroaster.^  But  the  conjecture  has  been  made,  and 
cannot  be  refuted,  that  the  proceedings  of  Artaxerxes 
in  this  matter  should  be  ascribed  to  policy  rather  than 
to  bigotry,^  and  in  that  case  we  could  not  regard  him 
as  originally  inspired  by  a  religious  sentiment.  Perhaps 
it  is  best  to  suppose  that,  like  most  founders  of 
empires,  he  was  mainly  prompted  by  ambition  ;  that 
he  saw  in  the  distracted  state  of  Parthia  and  in  the 
awakening  of  hope  among  the  sul)ject  races,  an  occasion 
of  whicli  he  determined  to  avail  himself  as  far  as  he 
could,  and  that  he  was  gradually  led  on  to  enlarge  his 
views  and  to  eifect  the  great  revolution,  which  he 
brought  about,  by  the  force  of  circumstances,  the 
wishes  of  others,  and  the  occurrence  of  opportunities 
which  at  first  he  neither  foresaw  nor  desired. 

It  has  been  observed,^  that  Parthia  w^as,  during  the 
whole  reign  of  Artaxerxes,  distracted  by  the  claims  of 
a  pretender,  Volagases  V.  According  to  Moses  of 
Chorene,  two  branches  of  the  Arsacid  family,  both  of 
them  settled  in  Bactria,  were  at  feud  with  the  reign- 
ing prince ;  and  these  offended  relatives  carried  their 
enmity  to  such  a  length  as  to  consider  submission  to  a 
foreigner  a  less  evil  that  subjection  to  the  de  facto 
head  of  their  house.^  The  success  of  Artabanus  in 
the  war  against  Home  had  no  effect  upon  his  domestic 
foes  ;  and  Artaxerxes  undoubtedly  knew  that,  if  he 
raised  the  standard  of  revolt,  he  might  count  on  a 
certain  amount  of  support  from  discontented  Arsacids 


'  See  Malcolm's  Jli^tory  of  Penia.^ 
vol.  i.  pp.  94,  95.     Compare  Gibbon. 
Decline  and  Fall,  vol  i.  pp.  322,  323, 
mith's  edition. 


^  Malcolm,  p.  95. 

'  Supra,  pp.  348-350. 

*  Mo.s.  Choren.  Hist.  Armen.  ii.  68. 


CH.  XXI.]        THEIR   EEVOLT    UNDER    ARTAXERXES.  365 

and  their  followers.  But  his  main  reliance  must  have 
been  on  the  Persians.  The  Persians  had,  in  the 
original  ai'rangenients  of  the  Parthian  empire,  been 
treated  with  a  certain  amount  of  favour.  They  had 
been  allowed  to  retain  their  native  monarchs,^  a  con- 
cession which  naturally  involved  the  continuance  of 
the  nation's  laws,  customs,  and  traditions.  Their  re- 
ligion had  not  been  persecuted,  and  had  even  in  the 
early  times  attracted  a  considerable  amount  of  Court 
favour.^  But  it  would  seem  that  latterly  the  privileges 
of  the  nation  had  been  diminished,  while  their  preju- 
dices were  wantonly  shocked.  The  Magi  had  ceased 
to  be  regarded  as  of  much  account,^  and,  if  they  still 
formed  nominally  a  portion  of  the  king's  council,  can 
have  had  little  influence  on  the  conduct  of  affairs  by 
the  government.  Such  a  custom  as  that  of  burning 
the  dead,  which  seems  to  have  been  the  rule  in  the 
later  Parthian  times,*  could  never  have  maintained 
its  ground,  if  the  opinion  of  the  Magi,  or  their  co- 
religionists, had  been  considered  of  much  account. 

Encouraged  by  the  dissensions  prevailing  in  the 
Parthian  royal  house,  strong  in  the  knowledge  of  his 
fellow-countrymen's  discontent,  and  perhaps  thinking 
that  the  losses  which  Artabanus  had  sustained  in  his 
three  days'  battle  against  the  Komans  under  Macrinus 
had  seriously  weakened  his  military  strength,  Ar- 
taxerxes,    tributary    king    of  Persia    under  Parthia,^ 


'  Strab.  XX.  3,  §  24. 

*  See  above,  ch.  vi.  p.  86. 
^  Agathias,  ii.  25. 

*  Herodian.  iv.  30,  p.  174. 

*  Herodian  (vi.  6)  says  :  — 'Apra- 
^ep^TjS  6  n  e  p  a  0)  V  i3aa  lAeii  i  , 
fiETu  TO  Tlap'ivaiovi  KaOe?.elv  koI  rrjq 
Karil    TTju    avaro?.>/v    apxF/i    Trapa?.vaai, 


Tov  /leyav  i^aatXea  Kal  Sual  Stadrj/iaai 
Xpt^/isvov  aTT^KTEive.  Dio,  it  is  true, 
seems  to  have  called  him  merely  '  a 
certain  Persian  '  {'Apra^ip^T/g  rcg  Ilep- 
ar]i) ;  and  later  vrriters  indulged 
in  various  tales  as  to  his  low  birth. 
(Agathias,  ii.  27 ;  Gibbon,  Decline 
and,   Fall,   vol.  i.    p.  331 ;  Malcolm, 


'Apru/Javov     tov    Trporepov    KuAovfievov  \  History  of  Persia,  vol.  i.  pp.  89,  90.) 


366 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY, 


[CH.  XXI. 


about  A.D.  220,^  or  a  little  later,  took  up  arms  against 
liis  master,  and  in  a  little  time  succeeded  in  establish- 
ing the  independence  of  Persia  Proper,  or  the  modern 
province  of  Fars.^  Artabaniis  is  said  to  have  taken 
no  steps  at  first  to  crush  the  rel)ellion,  or  to  re-establish 
his  authority  over  his  revolted  vassal.^  Thus  the 
Persian  monarch,  finding  himself  unmolested,  was  free 
to  enlarge  his  plans,  and  having  originalh^,  as  is  pro- 
bable, designed  only  the  liberation  of  his  own  people, 
began  to  contemplate  conquests.  Turning  liis  arms 
eastwards  against  Carmania  (Kerman),  he  easily  re- 
duced that  scantily-peopled  tract  under  his  d(^minion, 
after  which  he  made  war  towards  the  north,  and 
added  to  his  kingdom  some  of  the  outl3nng  regions  of 
Media.  Artabanus  now  at  leno;th  resolved  to  bestir 
himself,  and  collecting  his  forces,  took  the  field  in 
person.      Invading 


o 

Persia 


roper, 


he 


engaged 


in   a 


desperate  struggle  with  his  rival.     Three  gi'eat  battles 
were  fought  between  the  contending  powers.'*     In  the 


But  these  stories  are  probably  myths, 
which  clustered  about  the  founder 
of  the  second  Persian  kingdom  as 
so  manj''  similar  ones  did  about  the 
founder  of  the  first,  Cyrus.  (Heroil.i. 
]  07-1 28.)  On  the  abundance  of  such 
myths  in  connection  \AMth  the  person 
of  Artaxer.xes,  see  Moses  of  Chorenc 
(Hist.  Arm.  ii.  67),  who  speaks  of 
'  the  dream  of  desire,  and  the  judg- 
ment, and  the  fire  that  sprang  from 
Sassan,  the  imprisoned  flock  and 
the  white  eye,  the  jn-edictions  of  the 
soothsayers,  and  all  that  follows 
them — Artaxerxes'  incest  and  his 
murders,  the  wild  eloquence  of  the 
Magian  damsel  owing  to  the  calf, 
&c.  ;  the  she-goat,  wliich,  protected 
by  the  Eagle,  suckled  the  l;oy ;  the 
information  of  the  Crow,  and  the 
Lion's  remiss    defence,   the   service 


rendered  by  the  Wolf,  and  the 
stJ-ange  trial  of  strength,  and  all  the 
other  silly  fables  which  are  related 
in  the  books,  but  which  I  do  not 
intend  to  repeat.' 

'  The  exact  date  of  the  rebellion 
of  Artaxerxes  is  unknown.  Roman 
writers  only  tell  us  that  he  con- 
quered Aital)anus  and  began  io 
threaten  Rome  in  a.d.  226.  The 
coins  confirm  this,  but  add  nothing. 
Abulpharagius,  the  Arabinn  writer, 
says  that  Artaxerxes  founded  the 
New  Persian  kingdom  in  the  third 
year  of  Alexander  k^evcrus,  or  a.d. 
224  (p.  80). 

-  Malcolm,  Histo)')/ of  Persia,  vol. 
i.  p.  91. 

=*  Ibid. 

'  Dio.  Cass.  Ixxx.  3. 


CII.  XXI.]  THE    REVOLT    SUCCESSFUL.  367 

last,  which  took  place  in  the  plain  of  Hormuz/  be- 
tween Bebahan  and  Shuster,  on  the  course  of  the 
Jerahi  river,  ArtaVjanus  was,  after  a  desperate  conflict, 
completely  defeated^^  and  not  only  defeated  but  slain 
(a.d.  226). 

The  victory  of  Hormnz  did  not,  however,  absolutely 
decide  the  contest,  or  determine  at  once  that  the  Par- 
thian empire  should  fall,  and  the  new  Persian  kingdom 
succeed  into  its  place.  Artabanus  had  left  sons;  ^  and 
there  were  not  wantino;  those  among:  the  feudatories  of 
the  empire,  and  even  among  the  neighbouring  poten- 
tates, who  were  well  inclined  to  embrace  their  cause. 
A  certain  Artavasdes  seems  to  have  claimed  the  throne, 
and  to  have  been  accepted  as  king,  at  least  by  a 
portion  of  the  Parthians,  in  the  year  following  the 
death  of  Artabanus  (a.d.  227),  when  he  certainly  issued 
coins."*  The  Armenian  monarch,  wdio  had  been  set  on 
his  throne  by  Artabanus,  and  was  uncle  to  the  young 
princes,^  was  especially  anxious  to  maintain  the  Arsacids 
in  power ;  he  gave  them  a  refuge  in  Armenia,^  col- 
lected an  army  on  their  behalf,  and  en(?as:ino:  Arta- 
xerxes,  is  even  said  to  have  defeated  him  in  a  battle.'' 
But  his  efforts,  and  those  of  Artavasdes,  were  unavailing. 
The  arms  of  Artaxerxes  in  the  end  every  where  prevailed. 

'  So  Malcolm,  following  Persian  IT^mX  (Artabazu)  or  Artavasdes. 
authorities.  {Sistonj  (tf  Persia,  Some  coins  of  this  king  bear  th^ 
1.  s.  c.)  date  eA<J>,  or  a.d.  227. 

^  Dio  Cass.  1.  s.  c.  ;  Herodian.  vi.  '"  Procopius  de  JEdiJic.  Justinian. 
6,  7 ;  Agathias,  ii.  25,  &c.  I  iii.    1.     The   native   historians   give 

^  Dio  Cass.  1.  s.  c.  l  this  prince   the  name  of  Chosroe.s, 

*  A  coin  of  Artavasdes  has  been  but  do  not  acknowledge  his  close 
figured  and  described  bj'  Mr.  Taylor  relationstiip  to  Artabanus.  (See 
in  the  Numismatic  Chronicle  for  Mo-.  Chor.  Ilist.  Arm.  ii.  64-70.) 
1871,  p.  22G,  and  pi.  ii.  No.  7.  The  '  "  Dio  Cass.  1.  s.  c.  On  the  efTorts 
same  coin  is  fi^jured  also,  but  very  which  were  made  by  the  Armenian 
poorlv,  in  Lindsaj^  (History  and  king  to  help  Artabanus,  see  Mos. 
Coinage,  pi.  iv.  No.  95),  and  is  there  Chor.  TI.  A.  ii.  G8,^70. 
assigned  wrongly  to  Volagases  V.'  '  Dio  Cass,  ut 'supra.  Compare 
The  legend  upou  it  can  be  read  as  ■  Herodian.  vi.  15. 


368  THE   SIXTH    MOISTAKCHY.  [CH.  XXI. 

After  a  struggle,  wliich  cannot  Lave  lasted  more  than 
a  few  years,  the  provinces  of  the  old  Parthian  empire 
submitted  ;  the  last  Arsacid  prince  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Persian  king ;  ^  and  the  founder  of  the  new 
dynasty  sought  to  give  legitimacy  to  his  rule  by  taking 
to  wife  an  Arsacid  princess.^ 

Thus  perished  the  great  Parthian  monarchy  after  an 
existence  of  nearly  five  centuries.  Its  end  must  be 
attributed  in  the  main  to  internal  decay,  working  itself 
out  especially  in  two  directions.  The  Arsacid  race, 
with  which  the  idea  of  the  empire  was  bound  up,"'' 
instead  of  clinging  together  with  that  close  '  union  ' 
which  is  '  strength,'  allowed  itself  to  be  torn  to  pieces 
by  dissensions,  to  waste  its  force  in  quarrels,  and  to  l)e 
made  a  handle  of  by  every  foreign  invader,  or  domestic 
rebel,  who  chose  to  use  its  name  in  order  to  cloak  his 
own  selfish  projects.  The  race  itself  does  not  seem  to 
have  become  exhausted.  Its  chiefs,  the  successive 
occupants  of  the  throne,  never  sank  into  mere  weak- 
lings or  faineants^  never  shut  themselves  up  in  their 
seraglios,  or  ceased  to  take  a  leading  part,  alike  in 
civil  broils,  and  in  struggles  with  foreign  rivals.  But 
the  hold  which  the  race  had  on  the  population,  native 
and  foreign,  was  gradually  weakened  by  the  feuds 
which  raged  within  it,  by  the  profusion  ^vith  which 
the  sacred  blood  was  shed  by  those  in  whose  veins  it 
ran,  and  the  difficulty  of  knowing  which  living  member 
of  it  was  its  true  head,  and  so  entitled  to  the  allegiance 
of  those  who  wisked  to  be  faithful  Parthian  subjects. 
Further,  the  vigour  of  the  Parthian  soldieiy  must  have 
gradually  declined,  and  their  superiority  over  the  mass 


'  Mos.  Chor.  n'.  A.  ii.  70.  ,  i.  p.  90,  note.       '  gee  above,  p.  229, 

"  Malcolm, //is^ory  of  Persia,  vol,  | 


CH.  XXI.]  END  OF  THE  PAKTIIIAX  MONARCHY.  369 

of  the  nations  under  tlieir  dominion  liave  diminished. 
We  found  reasons  for  believing  that,  as  early  as  a.d.  58, 
Hyrcania  succeeded  in  throwing  off  the  Parthian  yoke,^ 
and  thus  setting  an  example  of  successful  rebellion  to 
the  subject  peoples.  The  example  may  have  been  fol- 
lowed in  cases  of  which  we  hear  nothing ;  for  the 
condition  of  the  more  remote  portions  of  the  empire 
was  for  the  most  pai't  unkno\vn  to  the  Romans.  When 
Persia,  about  a.d.  220,  revolted  from  Artabanus,  it 
was  no  doubt  with  a  conviction  that  the  Parthians 
were  no  longer  tlie  terrible  warriors  who  under  Mitliri- 
dates  I.  had  driven  all  the  armie's  of  the  East  before 
them  like  chaff,  or  who  under  Orodes  and  PhraatesIV. 
had  gained  signal  victories  over  the  Romans.  It  is 
true  that  Artabanus  had  contended  net  unsuccessfully 
with  Macrinus.  But  the  prestige  of  Parthia  was  far 
from  being  re-established  by  the  I'esult  of  his  three 
days'  battle.  Rome  retained  as  her  own,  notwithstand- 
ing his  success,  the  old  Partliian  province  of  Meso- 
potamia, and  was  thus,  even  in  the  moment  of  her 
weakness,  acknowledged  by  Parthia  to  be  the  stronger. 
The  Persians  are  not  likely  to  have  been  braver  or 
more  warlike  at  the  time  of  their  revolt  from  Arta- 
banus than  in  the  days  when  they  were  subjected  by 
Mithridates.  Any  alteration,  therefoie,  in  the  relative 
strength  of  the  two  peoples  must  be  ascribed  to  Par- 
thian decline,  since  it  cannot  have  been  owing  to 
Persian  advance  and  improvement.  To  conclud(\  we 
may  perhaps  allow  something  to  the  personal  qualities 
of  Artaxerxes,  who  appears  to  have  possessed  all  the 
merits  of  the  typical  Oriental  conqueror.     Artabanus 


'  See  above,  p.  286. 


370  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    XXI. 

was  among  the  most  able  of  tbe  later  Partliian 
monarchs;  but  his  antagonist  was  more  than  this, 
possessing  true  military  genius.  It  is  quite  possible 
that,  if  the  leaders  on  the  two  sides  had  changed 
places,  the  victory  might  have  rested,  not  with  the 
Persians,  but  with  the  Parthians. 


en.  XXII.]         AKCHITECTURE    OF    THE    PAKTHIANS.  371 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

On  tJie  Arcliitedure  and   Ornamental  Art  of  tlie  PartJiians. 

The  modern  liistorian  of  Architecture  observes,^  when 
he  reaches  the  period  with  which  we  have  had  to  deal 
in  this  volume,  that,  with  the  advent  of  Alexander 
Oriental  architecture  disappears,  and  that  its  history  is 
an  absolute  bhiuk  from  the  downfall  of  the  Achae- 
menians  in  b.c.  331  to  the  rise  of  the  Sassanians,  about 
A.D,  226.  The  statement  made  involves  a  certain 
amount  of  exaggeration  ;  but  still  it  expresses,  roughly 
and  strongly,  a  curious  and  important  fact.  The  Par- 
thians  were  not,  in  any  full  or  pi-egnant  sense  of  the 
word,  builders.  They  did  not  aim  at  leaving  a  material 
mark  upon  the  world  by  means  of  edifices  or  other 
great  works.  They  lacked  the  spirit  which  had  im- 
pelled successively  the  Assyrians,  tlie  Babylonians,  and 
the  Persians  to  cover  Western  Asia  with  architectural 
monuments,  proofs  at  once  of  the  wealth,  and  the 
grand  ideas,  of  those  who  raised  them.  Parthia,  com- 
pared to  these  pretentious  empires,  was  retiring  and 
modest.  The  monarchs,  however  rich  they  may  have 
been,  affected  something  of  primitive  rudeness  and 
simplicity  in  their  habits  and  style  of  life,  their  dwell- 
ings and  temples,  their  palaces  and  tombs.  It  is  dif- 
ficult indeed  to  draw  the  line  in  eveiy  case  betAveen 
pure  Parthian  work  and  Sassanian  ;  but  on  the  whole 

'  Fergusson,    History  of  Architecture^  vol.  li.  p.  422. 


372 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.    XXII. 


there  Is,  no  doubt,  reason  to  believe  that  the  archi. 
tectural  remains  in  Mesopotamia  and  Persia  which 
belong  to  the  period  between  Alexander  and  the  Arab 
conquest,  are  mainly  the  work  of  the  Sassanian  or  New 
Persian  kingdom,  and  that  compai'atively  few  of  them 
can  be  ascril)ed  with  confidence  to  a  time  anterior  to 
A.D.  227.  Still  a  certain  number,  which  have  about 
them  indications  of  greater  antiquity  than  the  rest, 
or  which  belong  to  sites  famous  in  Parthian  rather 
than  in  Persian  times,  may  reasonably  be  regarded  as 
in  all  probability  structures  of  the  Arsacid  period  ;  and 
from  these  we  may  gather  at  least  the  leading  cha- 
racteristics of  the  Parthian  architecture,  its  aims  and 
resources,  its  st3']e  and  general  effect,  while  from  other 
remains — scanty  indeed,  and  often  mutilated — we  may 
obtain  a  tolerable  notion  of  their  sculpture  and  other 
ornamental  art. 

The  most  imposing  remains  which  seem  certainly 
assignal)le  to  the  Parthian  period  are  those  of  Ilatra, 
or  El-IIadhr,  visited  by  Mr.  Layard  in  1846,  and  de- 
scribed at  length  by  Mr.  Ross  in  the  ninth  volume  of  the 
'  Journal  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,'  ^  as  well 
as  by  Mr.  Fergusson,  in  his'  History  of  Ai'chitecture.' ^ 
Ilatra  became  known  as  a  place  of  importance  in  the 
eai'ly  part  of  the  second  century  after  Christ.^  It 
successfully  resisted  Trajan  in  a.d.  11(3,  and  Se\erusin 
A.D.  198."*  It  is  then  described  as  a  large  and  populous 
•city,  defended  l>y  strong  and  extensive  walls,'^  and  con- 


'  See  Art.  xxii.  pp.  407-470. 
""  Vol  ii.  pp.  423-425. 
'    Soe    Arrian,     Fr.     15:     'Arpai, 
■Kulli    /JETCl^V    EvcppaTiiv    Kul    Ti}pr/7of. 

Compare  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii.  31  ;  Ixxv. 
10;  Ilorodian.  iii.  land  28;  Arrian, 
Fr.  G. 


"  A  mm.  Marc.  xxv.  8.  '  ITatram 
oppidum,  quod  diruendum 
adorti  teniporibus  variis  Trajanus  et 
Severus,  principes  bellicosi,  cum 
cxorcitibus  jjasnc  deleti  sunt.'  See 
above,  pp.  315  and  345. 

'■"  llerodian.  iii.  28. 


CH.  xxil]  wall  of  hatea.  373 

taining  within  it  a  temple  of  the  Sun,  celebrated  for 
the  great  value  of  its  offerings.^     It  enjoyed  its  own 
kings  at  this  time,^  who  were  regarded  as  of  Arabian 
stock,^  and  were    among  the  more    important  of  the 
Parthian  tributary  monarchs.     By  the  year  a.d.  363 
Hatra  had  gone  to  ruin,  and  is  then  described  as  'lono- 
since  deserted.'  ^     Its  flourishing  period    thus  belongs 
to  the    space  between    a.d.    100   and    a.d.    300;    and 
its  remains,  to  which  Mr.  Fergusson  assigns  the  date 
A.D.   250,  must   be    regarded   as  probably  at   least  a 
century  earlier,    and  consequently  as    indicating    the 
character  of  the   architecture   which   prevailed  under 
the  later  Parthians,  and  which,  if  Sassanian  improve- 
ments had  not  obliterated  them,  we  should  have  found 
upon  the  site  of  Ctesiphon. 

The  city  of  Hatra  *  was  enclosed  by  a  circular  wall 
of  great  thickness,^  built  of  large  square-cut  stones, 
and  strengthened  at  intervals  of  about  170  yards  by 
square  towers  or  bastions.  Its  circumference  con- 
siderably exceeded  three  miles.  Outside  the  wall  was 
a  broad  and  very  deep  ditch,  and  on  the  further  side 
of  the  ditch  was  an  earthen  rampart  of  considerable 
height  and  thickness.  Two  detached  forts,  situated  on 
eminences,  commanded  the  approaches  to  the  place, 
one  towards  the  east,  and  the  other  towards  the  north. 
The  wall  was  pierced  by  four  gateways,  of  which  the 
principal  one  faced  the  east.^ 


'  Dio  Cass.  Ixxv.  12. 

^  Herodian.  iii.  1  and  27. 

'  Amiii.  Marc.  1.  s.  c.  'Platram 
.  .  .  vetus  oppidum  in  media  solitu- 
dine  positum,  olimqtie  desertum: 

In  tins  description  I  follow 
especially  the  account  given  by  Mr. 
Ross.  {Oeograph.  Journal,  1.  s.  c.)  On 


to  Mr.  Ainsworth  {Geographical 
Journal,  vol.  xi.  pp.  13  et  seq.  ; 
Researches  in  Mesopotamia,  vol.  ii. 
pp.  165  et  seqq.),  and  on  others  to 
Mr.  Fergusson  {History  of  Architec- 
ture, vol.  ii.  pp.  423-4'25). 

^  The  width  was  a  little  more  than 
ten  feet. 


some   ponts   I  am  further  indebted        »  Mr.'Ross'.«  n!an  shows  one  gate 


374 


THE   SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[cn.  XXII. 


The  circular  space  witliin  the  walls  was  divided  into 
two  portions  by  a  water-course  ^  ]~)assing  across  it  from 


Plan  of  llatra  (arter  Ross). 


nortli  to  south,  and  running  somewhat  east  of  the  centre, 
Avhich  thus  divided  the  circle  into  two  unequal  parts. 
The  eastern  portion  was  left  comparatively  clear  of 
buildings,  and  seems  to  have  been  used  mainly  as  a 
burial-ground  ;  in  the  western  were  the  pul)lic  edifices 
and  the  more  important  houses  of  the  inhabitants.  Of 
the  former  by  far  the  most  remarkable  was  one 
which  stood  nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  and  which 
has  been  called  })j  some  a  palace,  by  otliei-s  a  temple, 
but  which  may  best  be  regarded  as  combining  both 


way  only — viz.,  the  eastern  one. 
Mr.  Ainsworth,  however,  state>  that 
there  were  four.  The  plan  which  the 
latter  traveller  sent  with  his  inetnoir 
to  the    (loyal   Geogr.i[)hical    Society 


was,  unfortunately,  not  puhlishcd. 
'  Mr.  Ross  represents  the  water- 
course as  straight,  hut  Mr.  Ains- 
worth says  it  is  tortuous.  {I^e- 
sf-archex^  vol.  ii.  p.  167.) 


CH.  XXII.]  PALACE-TEMPLE    OF    HATRA. 


375 


uses.'  This  hiiildiiio:  stood  within  a  walled  enclosure 
of  an  oblong  square  shape,  about  800  feet  long  by 
700  broad.^  The  wall  surrounding  it  was  strength- 
ened with  bastions,  like  the  wall  around  the  city. 
The  enclosure   comprised   two  courts,  an  inner  and  an 


Plan  of  Palace-Temple  at  Hatra  (arter  Fcrgueson  and  Ross). 

outer.  The  outer  court,  which  lay  towards  the  east, 
and  was  first  entered,  was  entirely  clear  of  buildings, 
while  the  inner  court  contained  two  considerable 
edifices.  Of  these  the  less  important  vv^as  one  which 
stretched  from   north  to  south   across  the  entire  in- 


'  In  the  East  the  Temple  was 
commonly,  or  at  any  i  ate  frequently, 
an  adjunct  of  the  palnce  Two 
temples  formed  part  of  the  old 
Assyrian  palace  at  Calah  or  Nimrud. 
(See  Ancient  Men  a  rrJi  ie.i,  vol.  i.  pp. 
319-820,  2nd  edition.)  A  temple 
was  included  within  Sargon's  palace 
at  Khor.sabad  (ibid.  p.  296).  Mr. 
Ferguspon  regards  the  grand  build 


ings  at  Persepolis  as  'Palace-Tem- 
ples.' 

^  These  measurements  were  fur- 
nished to  Mr.  Fergusson  by  Mr. 
Layard.  (Hist,  of  Architecture,  vol. 
ii.  pp.  423-4.)  Mr.  Ross  regarded 
the  enclosure  as 'a  square  of  300 
good  />ace«  '  (query,,  yards  ?)  See 
the  Geotjrajth.  Journal,  vol.  iX.  p 
408. 


376 


THE    SIXTH    MOISTAECHY. 


[CH. 


XXII. 


closure,  and  abutted  upon  tlie  outer  court ;  this  was 
confused  in  plan,  and  consisted  chiefly  of  a  number  of 
small  apartments,  which  have  been  regarded  as  guard- 
rooms.^ The  other  was  a  building  of  greater  preten- 
sions. It  was  composed  mainly  of  seven  vaulted  halls,  all 
of  them  parallel  one  to  anothei*,  and  all  facing  eastward, 
three  being  of  superior  and  four  of  inferior  size.  The 
smaller  halls  (Nos.  I.,  III.,  IV.,  and  VI.,  on  the  plan) 
were  about  thirty  feet  long  by  twenty  wide,  and  had  a 
height  of  thirty  feet ;  ~  the  larger  ones  measured  ninety 
feet  in  length,'^  and  were  from  thirty-five  to  forty 
feet  broad,"*  with  a  height  of  sixty  feet.°  All  were 
upon  the  same  plan.  They  had  semicircular  vaulted 
roofs,  no  windows,  and  received  their  light  from  the 
archway  at  the  east  end,  which  was  either  left  entirely 
open,  or  perhaps  closed  with  curtains. 

Externally,  the  eastern  facade  of  the  building,  which 

was  evidently  its  main  front,  had  for  ornament,  besides 

the  row  of  seven  arches,  a  series  of  pillars,  or  rather 

pilasters,  from  which  the  arches  sprang, 

some  scidptures  on  the  stones  composing 

the  arches,  and  one  or  two  emblematic 

figui'es  in  the    spaces  left  between  the 

])ilasters.     The  sculptiu'es  on  the  stones 

of  the  arches  consisted  either  of  human 

heads,  or  of  representations  of  a  female 

form,    apparently    floating    in    air.®     An    emblematic 


'  Ainsworth,   Reaearcltf!^,  &c.,  vol.  1      '  Mr.    Ross  says   *  33  Ion <? /wees,' 
ii.     p.    16G.      At    the  southern  ex- j  by  whicli  he  seems  to  mean  'steps.' 
tremity  of  the  row  of  small  chambers  ,  Mr.  Ainsworth  says  '  'M  yards.' 
was  a  hall  of  some  size.  j      ''   'Twelve    long   pacns '      (Ross). 

^  So  Mr.  Ross  Cr  «'<//•«;)/(.  Jourtral,  |  'Fourteen  yards'  (Ainsworth). 
1.    s. 'c)     But  fiom   the   drawin':;  it'      "  Mr.    Ross    and    Mr.    Ainsworth 
would  socm  that  the  estimate  is  in-  ,  agree  in  this  estimate, 
sudiciciil  I      "  The  '  female  form  floatinjr  in  air' 


CH.  XXII.]  PALACE-TEMPLE    OF    HATRA. 


377 


sculpture  l)etween  the  fourth  and  fifth  arch  represented 
a  griffin  with  twisted  tail,  raised  about  5  feet  above 
the  ground.  The  entire  length  of  the  facade  was  about 
300  feet. 

The  interior  of  the  smaller  halls  had  no  'ornament ; 
but  the  larsfer  ones  were  decorated  somewhat  elaljo- 
rately.  Here  the  side  walls  were  broken  by  three 
squared  pilasters,  rising  to  the  commencement  of  the 
vaulting,  and  terminated  by  a  quasi-capital  of  orna- 
mental work,  consisting  of  a  series  of  ovals,  each 
oval  containino:  in  its  centi'e  a  round  ball  of  dark 
stone.  Underneath  these  quasi-capitals,  at  the  distance 
of  from  two  to  three  feet,  ran  a  cornice,  which  crossed 
the  pilasters,  and  extended  the  whole  length  of  the 
apartment,  consisting  of  flowers  and  half-ovals,  each 
oval    containing   a   half-ball    of  the  same  dark  stone 


^^^3Xs^<GXa^(2)>gJ|g^X<?^^      ^Jf&)^ 


Cornice  and  quasi  capital,  Hatra  (after  Ross). 

as  the  capitals.  Finally,  on  the  pilasters,  immediately 
below  the  cornice,  were  sculptured  commonly  either 
two  or  three  human  heads,^  the  length  of  each  head 


was  confined  to  the  hall  marked  No. 
II.  on  the  plan.  Tlie  stones  of  the 
other  arche,~i  horoheadshothniale  and 
female,  some  with  '  very  curious 
curling  bag- wigs.'  (Compare  tlie 
bushy  wigs  on  many  of  the  Parthian 
coins.) 

'  In  tlie  Hall  marked  No.  II.  on 
the  plan,  the  heads  were  uniformly 
tlroe,   as  in  the  above  woodcut.     In 


Hall  No.  V.  each  pillar  bore  two 
heads.  Hall  No.  VII.  seems  to  have 
had  no  pillars.  The  north  side  is  in 
ruins;  the  south  is  ornamented  with 
a  row  of  eight  human-headed  bulls, 
standing  out  from  the  walls  as  far  as 
their  shoulders  at  a  distance  from 
the  ground  of  about  ten  feet.  (Ross 
in  Geographiad  Joiiriud^  vol.  i.v.  p. 
4fi9.) 


878  THE   SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.    XXIT. 

"being  about  two  feet,  and  the  faces  representing  diverse 
types  of  linmanity,  some  old  and  some  young,  some 
male  and  some  female,  some  apparently  realistic,  some 
idealised  and  more  or  less  grotesque  in  their  accom- 
paniments. The  draAving  of  the  heads  is  said  to  have 
been  full  of  spirit,  and  their  general  effect  is  pro- 
nounced life-like  and  striking. 

The  seven  halls,  which  have  been  described,  wei'e 
divided  into  two  groups,  of  three  and  four  respectively, 
by  a  low  fence,  which  ran  from  east  to  west  across  the 
inner  court,  from  the  partition  wall  separating  the 
third  and  fourth  halls  to  the  buildinu^s  which  divided 
the  inner  court  from  the  outer.  It  is  probable  that 
this  division  separated  the  male  and  female  apart- 
ments. The  female  ornamentation^  of  the  large  hall 
(No.  II.)  1)elonging  to  the  southern  group  is  perhaps 
an  indication  of  the  sex  of  its  inmates  ;  and  another 
sign  that  these  were  the  female  quarters  is  to  be  found 
in  the  direct  communication  existing  between  this 
portion  of  the  building  and  'the  Temple'  (No.  VIII.), 
which  could  not  be  reached  from  tlie  male  apartments 
ex('e[)t  by  a  long  circuit  round  the  building. 

Tlie  'Temple'  itself  was  an  apartment  of  a  square 
shape,  each  side  being  aT)out  forty  feet.  It  was  com-' 
pletely  surrounded  l)y  a  vaulted  passage,  into  which 
light  came  from  two  windows  at  its  south-west  and 
north-west  corners.  The  Temple  was  entered  by  a 
single  doorway,  the  position  of  which  was  directly 
opposite  an  opening  leading  into  tlie  passage  from  Hall 
No.  II.  Above  this  doorway  was  a  magnificcMit  frieze, 
the  character  of  which  is  thought  to  indicate  the  re- 
ligious purpose  of  the  structure.     The  interior  of  the 


'  See  above,  p.  '57G,  note 


CH.  XXII. j  PALACE-TEMPLE    OF    HATHA. 


379 


Temple  was  without  ornamentation,  vaulted,  and  ex- 
cept for  the  feeble  light  which  entered  by  the  single 


Frieze  over  Temple  doorway,  Hatra  (after  Ross). 

doorway,  dark.  On  the  west  side  a  portal  led  into  the 
passage  from  the  outer  air. 

Besides  these  main  apartments,  the  edifice  which  we 
are  descriljing  contained  a  certain  numl)er  of  small 
rooms,  lying  behind  the  halls,  and  entered  by  door- 
ways opening  from  them.  One  or  two  such  rooms  are 
found  behind  each  of  the  smaller  halls  ;  and  anotlier  of 
somewhat  hirger  dimensions  lay  behind  the  great  hall 
(numbered  VII.  in  the  plan),  forming  the  extreme 
north-western  corner  of  the  building.  These  looms 
were  vaulted  and  had  no  windows,  receiving  their  only 
light  from  the  small  doorways  by  which  they  were 
entered. 

It  is  believed  that  the  entire  edifice,  or  at  any  rate 
the  greater  portion  of  it,  liad  an  upper  story.  Traces 
of  such  a  structure  appear  over  the  halls  numbered 
I.  and  VI. ;  and  it  is  thought  that  the  story  extended 
over  the  entire  range  of  halls.     One  traveller,^  on  con- 


'  Ainsworth,  Reseorrhrs,  vol.  ii.  the  upper  rooin.s  at  the  .southern  end 
p.  1G5.  Mr.  Ross  believed  that  he  of  the  building.  {Qeognqjh.  Journal, 
found  traces  of  a  stairc  ise  leading  to    vol.  ix.  p.  470.) 


380 


THE    SIXTH    MOJS^AKCHY. 


[CH.  XXII. 


Jectural  grounds,  even  assigns  to  the  building  an  eleva- 
tion of  three  stories,  and  ventures  to  restore  the  second 
and  third  in  the  mode  represented  in  the  subjoined 
woodcut.  According  to  this  author  the  upper  portion 
of  the  edifice  resembled  in  many  respects  the  great 
palace  of  the  Sassanian  monarchs,  of  which  splendid 


Restoration  of  the  Hatra  Palace-Temple  (after  Ainsworth). 

remains  still  exist  on  the  site  of  Ctesiphon,  where 
they  are  known  as  the  Takhti-Khuzroo,  or  Palace  of 
Chosroes.  That  palace  was,  however,  on  a  very  dif- 
ferent plan  from  the  Hatra  one,  comprising  as  it  did 
one  hall  only,  but  of  a  size  vastly  superior  to  any  of 
those  at  Hatra,  and  two  wings,  one  on  either  side  of  the' 
hall,  made  up  of  dwelling  and  sleeping  apartments.^ 

The  few  windows  which  exist  at  Hatra  are  oblong 
square  in  shape,^  as  in  general  are  the  doorways  con- 
necting one  apartment  with  another.  In  one  case 
there  is  an  arched  doorway,  or  niche,  which  has  been 
blocked  up.  There  are  no  passages  except  the  one 
which  surrounds  Hhe  Temple,'  the  apartments  gene- 
rally leading  directly  one  into  another.     In  some  cases 


'  See  the  p;ronntl  plan  in  Mr. 
Fergnsson's  Ilintory  of  Architecture, 
vol.  ii.  p.  4:!0. 


*  Ross  in  Oeograph.  Journal,  vol. 
ix.  p.  408. 


CH«    XXIl.]       RESERVOIRS    AND    TOMBS    AT    IIATRA.  381 

the  lintel  of  a  doorway  is  formed  of  a  single  stone,  and 
ornamented  with  very  delicate  carving,^  The  door- 
ways are  for  the  most  part  towards  the  corners  of 
apartments ;  tliat  of  the  Temple,  however,  is  in  the 
centre  of  its  eastern  wall. 

The  general  style  of  the  buildings  at  Hatra  has  been 
said  to  be  '  Komau  or  Byzantine ; '  and  it  has  even 
been  supposed  that  '  in  the  style  of  the  ornaments  and 
sculj)tured  figures  may  be  traced  the  corrupt  taste  and 
feel)le  outline  of  the  artists  of  Constantinople.'^  But 
there-  is  alnindant  reason  to  believe  that  the  Hatra 
Palace  was  built  nearly  two  centuries  before  Constan- 
tinople came  into  existence ;  and,  although  the  large 
use  of  the  round  arch  in  vaulting  may  be  due  to  the 
spread  of  Roman  architectural  ideas,  yet  there  are  no 
grounds  for  su])posing  that  any  but  native  artists, 
Parthian  suT)jects,  were  employed  in  the  work,  or 
that  it  is  othei"  than  a  fair  specimen  of  what  was 
achieved  1)}'  the  Parthian  Vjuilders  during  the  later 
j)eriod  of  the  empii-e.  The  palace  of  Volagases  III.  at 
Ctesiplion,  which  Avidius  Cassius  destroyed  in  his 
invasion,^  was  most  likely  of  the  same  general  cha- 
racter— a  com])ination  of  lofty  halls  suital)le  for  cere- 
monies and  audiences  with  small  and  dark  slee})ing  or 
living  rooms,  opening  out  of  them,  the  whole  placed  in 
the  middle  of  a  paved  court,  and  the  male  apartments 
carefully  divided  from  those  of  tlie  women. 

The  remains  at  Hatra  are  further  remarkable  for 
a  considerable  number  of  reservoirs  and  toml)s.  The 
open  space  between  the  town  proper  and  the  eastern 
wall  and  gate  is  dotted  with  edifices  of  a  square  sliape, 
standing  apart  from  one  another,  which  are  reasonably 

'  See  above,  p.  379.  i  p.  571.  '  Supra,  page  328. 

-  Layard,    Ni'iev-h   and  Babylon,  I 


382 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.  xxir. 


regarded  as  sepulclires.^  These  are  built  in  a  solid 
way,  of  hewn  stone,  and  consist  either  of  one  or  two 
chambers.  They  vary  in  size  from  twenty  feet  square 
to  foi'ty,  and  are  generally  of  about  the  same  height. 
Some  are  perfectly  plain,  but  the  exteriors  of  others 
are  ornamented  with  pilasters.  The  reservoii's  occur 
in  the  paved  court  which  surrounds  the  main  building; 
they  have  narrow  apertures,  but  expand  l)elovv  the 
aperture  into  the  shape  of  a  bell,  and  are  carefully  con- 
structed of  well-cut  stones  closely  fitted  together. 

The  material  used  at  Hatra  is  uniformly  a  brownish 
grey  limestone  ;  and  the  cutting  is  so  clean  and  smooth 
that  it  is  doubted  whether  the  stones  have  needed  any 
cement.  If  cement  has  been  employed,  at  any  rate 
it  cannot  now  be  seen,  the  stones  everywhere  appear- 
ing to  touch  one  another. 

There  are  several  buildings  remaining  in  Persia,  the 
date  of  which  cannot  l)e  much  later  than  that  of  the 
Hatra  edifice;^  but,  as  it  is  on  the  whole  more  pro- 
bable that  they  belong  to  the  Sassanian  than  to  the 
Parthian  period,  no  account  of  them  will  be  given 
here.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  observe  that  their  archi- 
tecture grows  naturally  out  of  that  which  was  in  use  at 
Hatra,  and  that  thus  we  are  entitled  to  ascribe  to  Par- 
thian times  and  to  subjects  of  the  Parthian  Empire  that 
impulse  to  Oriental  architectui'e  which  a^voke  it  to 
renewed  life  after  a  sleep  of  ages,  and  which  in  a  short 
time  produced   such  imposing  results  as  the  Takht-i- 


'  Ross  in  Oeogrnph.  Jnirvnl^  vol. 
ix.  p.  ;570.  Mr.  Ainsworth  r<(<rju'ds 
some  of  these  buildings  ns  dwelling 
houses,  and  tiiinks  that  only  ujton  a 
vciy  cursory  insj)ection  could  thc}^ 
have  been  considerel  in  all  cases 
to.nb.-;    {ItetiCdrchen^   vol.    ii.  \).  171  J. 


He  does  not,  hoM^ever,  question  the 
sepulchral  ciiaracter  of  the  greater 
number. 

■  As  especially  those  at  Scrbislan 
and  Finizabad,  described  by  Mr. 
Fergusso.i  in  his  Ilidory  of  Archi- 
tecture, vol.  ii.  pp.  428-430. 


CII.  XXIl]  PARTHIAl^    CAPITALS.  383 

Khuzroo  at  Ctesiplion,  the  ruins  of  Shapiir,  and  tlie 
triumphal  arch  at  Takht-i-Bostan, 

The  decorative  and  fictile  art  of  the  Parthians  has 
I'eceived  no  inconsideraljle  amount  of  illustration  from 
lemains  discovered,  in  the  years  1850-1852,  in  Baby- 
lonia. In  combination  with  a  series  of  Parthian  coins 
were  found  by  Mr.  Loftus,  on  the  site  of  the  ancient 
Erech  (now  Warka),  a  number  of  objects  in  clay,  plaster, 
and  metal,^  enabling  us  to  form  a  fair  idea  of  the  mode 
in  which  purely  Pai'thian  edifices  were  decorated  during 
the  best  times  of  the  empire,  and  of  the  style  that  then 
})revailed  in  respect  of  personal  ornaments,  domestic 
utensils,  and  other  objects  capable,  more  or  less,  of 
aesthetic  handling.  The  remains  discovered  comprised 
numerous  architectural  fragments  in  plaster  and  brick; 
a  large  number  of  ornamental  coffins  ;  several  statuettes 
in  terra-cotta;  jars,  jugs,  vases,  and  lamps  in  earthen- 
ware;  some  small  glass  bottles;  and  various  personal 
decorations,  such  as  beads,  rings,  and  ear-rings. 

The  architectural  fragments  consisted  of  capitals  of 


Parthian  Capitals  (after  Loftus). 


pillars,  portions  of  cornices,  and  sj)ecimens  of  a  sort  of 
diapering  which  seems  to  have  been  applied  to  screens 
or  thin  partitions.     The  capitals  were  somewhat  heavy 

'  See  lioituSjChaldaiaand  Susiann,  pp.  202-214. 


3Si 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[cll.  XXII. 


in  design,  and  at  first  sight  struck  the  spectator  as 
barbarous ;  but  they  exhibited  a  good  deal  of  in- 
genious boldness,  an  absence  of  conventionality,  and 
an  occasional  quaintness  of  design  not  unworthy  of  a 
Gothic  decorator.  One  especially,  which  combines 
the  upper  portion  of  a  human  figure,  wearing  the 
pufFed-out  hair  or  wig,  Avhicli  the  Parthians  affected, 
with  an  elegant  leaf  rising  from  the  neck  of  the  capital, 
and  curving  gracefully  under  the  abacus,  has  decided 
merit,  and  is  'suggestive  of  the  later  Byzantine  style.' ^ 
The  cornices  occasionally  reminded  the  discoverer  of  the 
remarkable  frieze  at  El-Hadhr,^  and  were  characterised 
by  the  same  freedom  and  boldness  of  invention  as  the 
capitals.  But  the  most  curious  remains  were  the  fi'ag- 
ments  of  a  sort  of  screen  work,  pieces  of  plaster  covered 


Partliiiui  Diapering  (after  Loftus). 

with  geometric  designs  upon  both  sides,  the  j)atterns 
on  the  two  sides  dilTering.  These  designs,  though 
unlike;  in  many  respects  the  arabesques  of  the  Mo- 
hamm('(lans,  yet  seemed  on  the  avIioIc  to  l)e  their  pre- 
cursors, the  '  geometric  curves  and  tracery  '  appearing 
to  '  shadow  fortli  the  beauty  and  richness  of  a  style 
Avhicli  afterwards  followed  the -tide  of  Mohammedan 
coiKjuest  to  the  remotest  corners  of  the  known  world.'^ 


'  Loftus,  Chaldiv.d  and  Sidiiana, 
p.  220. 

''  Ibid.  p.  225.  (See  the  woodcut, 
sunn,  p.  I>7t'.) 


'  Iljid.  p.  227.  Mr.  Loftus  argues 
that  the  j)cculi!irities  of  Saracenic 
architecture,  its  richly  wrought  trac- 
ing   and    geometric   ornamentation, 


CK.  XX I  I.J 


PAKTIIIAN    COFFINS. 


185 


The  ornamental  coffins  were  of  a  coarse 
earthenware,  bluish-green  in  hue,  and  belonged 
kind  which  has  been  called  'slipper-shaped.'^ 
varied  in  leno-th  from  three  feet  to 
six,  and  had  a  large  aperture  at 
their  upper  end,  by  means  of 
which  the  body  was  ])laced  in 
them,  and  a  flat  lid  to  close  this 
aperture,  ornamented  like  the 
coffin,  and  fixed  in  its  place  by  a 
fine  lime  cement.  A  second  aper- 
ture at  the  lower  extremity  of  the 
coffin  allowed  for  the  escape  of 
the  o'ases  diseu2:aQ:ed  durin«:  de- 
composition.  The  ornamentation 
of  the  coffins  varied,  but  consisted 


glazed 


Fij^ure  ou  coffin   (after  Loftus). 


■;P- 


'••V 


originated  with  the  Pnrthians,  were  \  '  On  these  coffins,  see  LofYns,  pp. 
disused  b}- tlie  Sassanians,  and  after  203-206  ;  Layard,  Nineveh  iti,<l 
tho  Mohammedan  conquest  Vt-i.'r(i ,  BahyJon,  p.  558;  Rawlinson.  Ileio- 
revivcd  by  tl'e  Arabs.   {Chaldcea  and   dotus,  vol.  i.  p.  272,  2nd  edition. 

Siisiana,  p.  228.)  1 


386  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [cil.    XXIL 

generally  of  small  figures  of  men,  about  six  or  seven 
inches  in  length,  the  most  usual  figure  being  a  warrior 
witli  liis  arms  akimbo  and  his  leers  astride,  weai'ino;  on 
his  head  a  coiffure^  like  that  which  is  seen  on  the 
Parthian  coins,  and  having  a  sword  hanging  from  the 
belt. 

Of  the    statuettes    in  terra-cotta,  one  of  the  most 
curious  represented  a  Parthian  warrior,  recumbent,  and 


Parthiao  statuette  {after  Loftus). 

apparently  about  to  drink  out  of  a  cup  held  in  the  left 
hand.^  The  fisrure  was  clad  in  a  Ions;  coat  of  mail, 
with  greaves  on  the  legs  and  a  helmet  ujion  the  head. 
Others  represented  females ;  these  had  lofty  head- 
dresses, which  sometimes  rose  into  two  peaks  or  horns, 
recalling  the  costume  of  English  ladies  in  the  time  of 
Henry  IV.  These  figures  were  veiled  and  cai'efully 
draped  about  the  upper  part  of  the  person,  l)ut  showed 
the  fjice,  and  had  the  legs  bare  from  the  knee  down- 
Avards.^ 

The  jars,  jugs,  vases,  and  lainps  greatly  resembled 
those  of  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  periods,  but 
were  on  the  whole  more  elegant  and  artistic.  The 
forms  appended  will  give  a  toleiable  idea  of  the  general 
chai'acter  of  these  vessels.     They  were  of  various  sizes, 

Loftus,  p.  213.  "  Ibid.  p.  214. 


en.  XXII.]  PAKTHIAN    VASES    AND    LAMPS. 


387 


and  aj)pear  to  have  been  placed  in  tlie  tom])S,  partly 
as  the  offerings  of  friends  and  well-wishers,  ^^artly  with 


riu'ltiian  vases,  jugs,  and  lamps  (after  Loftus). 

the  more  superstitious  object  of  actually  supplying  the 
deceased  Avitli  the  di'ink  and  light  needful  for  him  on 
his  passage  from  earth  to  the  realms  of  the  dead.^ 

The  glass  l)ottles  were,  perhaps,  lachrymatories."^ 
They  had  no  peculiar  characteristics,  but  were  almost 
exactly  similar  to  objects  of  the  same  kind  belonging 
to  the  times  of  the  Assyrian  and  BaV)ylonian  Empires.^ 
They  exhibited  the  same  lovely  prismatic  colours, 
which  have  been  so  admired  in  the  2:lass  of  those  kin<r- 
doms,  an  effect  of  decomposition,  which,  elsewhere 
C-enerallv  disfiirurinir,  in  tlie  case  of  this  material  en- 
hances  the  original  beauty  of  the  object  tenfold  by 
clothing  it  in  hues  of  the  utmost  brilliance  and  de- 
licacy.^ 

The  personal  decorations  consisted  chiefly  of  armlets, 


'  Similar  ideas  existed  among  the  I  '  As  Mr.  Loftus  supposed  {Chal- 
early  Babylonians  (Anrie/d  Mon-Wlcen  and  8usiuna,\).  211). 
archies^  vol.  i.  pp.  80-80,  2nd  edi-  ^  '^qq  Ancient  M(marrhi<'><,\o\.\.ii. 
tion),  and  had  probably  been  pas.=cd  !  389 ;  vol.  ii.  p.  570,  2nd  edit, 
on  to  the  mlxe  I  race  which  inhabited  !  ■*  Compare  the  note  of  Sir  D. 
the  same  tract  of  country  under  the  j  Brewster  at  the  end  of  ]\Ir.  Layard's 
ParthiuDS.  ,  Ninereh  and  Bahylou^  pp.  G74-G76. 


388  THE    SIX'JII    MONARCHY.  [CH.  XXIT. 

bangles,  beads,  rings,  and  ear-rings.'  They  were  in 
gold,  silver,  copper,  and  brass.  Some  of  the  smaller 
gold  ornaments,  such  as  ear-rings,  and  small  ])lates  or 
beads  for  necklaces  and  fillets,  were  '  of  a  tasteful  and 
elegant  design.'  ^  The  iiuger-riiigs  were  coarser,  while 
the  toe-rings,  armlets,  and  bangles,  Avere  for  the  most 
part  exceedingly  rude  and  barbarous.  Head-dresses 
in  gold,  tall  and  pointed,  are  said  to  have  been  found 
occasionally  ;  but  the  museums  of  Europe  have  not  yet 
been  able  to  secure  any,  as  they  are  usually  melted 
down  by  the  finders.  Broad  ribbons  of  gold,  which 
may  have  depended  like  strings  from  a  cap,  are  com- 
moner, and  were  seen  by  Mr.  Loftus.  Altogether,  the 
ornaments  indicated  a  strong  love  of  personal  display, 
and  the  possession  of  considerable  wealth,  but  no 
general  diffusion  of  a  correct  taste,  nor  any  very  ad- 
vanced skill  in  design  or  metallurgy. 

Of  purely  aesthetic  art — art,  that  is,  into  which  the 
idea  of  the  useful  does  not  enter  at  all — the  Parthians 
appear  scarcely  to  have  had  an  idea.  During  the  five 
centui'ies  of  their  sway,  they  seem  to  have  set  up  no 
more  than  some  half-dozen  l)as-reliefs.  Thei-e  is,  in- 
deed, only  one  such  work  wliich  can  be  positively 
identified  as  belonging  to  tlie  Parthian  period  by  the 
inscription  wliich  accomj)anies  it.^  The  other  pre- 
sumedly Parthian  reliefs  are  adjudged  to  the  people 
by  art  critics  merely  from  their  style  and  their  locality, 
occurring  as  they  do  within  the  limits  of  the  Parthian 
kinofdom,  and  lackins^  the  characteristics  which  attach 
to  the  art  of  those  who  ])receded  and  of  those  who 
followed  the  Parthians  in  these  countries. 


'  Loftus,    CJiaJchm   and   Sv.siuna,  j      ■■  On  this  inscription,   see  above, 
p.  21  I.  ch.  XV.,  p.  2G0. 

■'  Ibid.  I 


CH.  XXII.]  BAS-KELIEF    OF    GOTARZES. 


389 


The  oue  certainly  Parthian  bas-relief  is  that  which 
still  exists  on  the  threat  rock  of  Behistnn,  at  the  foot  of 


the  mountain,  raised  l)ut  slightly  above  the  plain.*     It 
seems  to  have  contained  a  series  of  tall  figui'es,  looking 


'  This  monument  was  seen  by  Sir  i  inserted  in  the  great  work  of  M. 
H.  Rawlinson  in  1838,  and  described  Flandin  (Voi/af/e  en  Pcisc.  Planches 
in  the  Journal  of  the  Geographical  \  Ancicnne^i,  No.  119).  The  accom- 
Society,  vol.  ix.  p.  115.  It  was  panjing  woodcut  is  taken  from  this 
carefully    copied  by   M.  Coste   and    engraving. 


390  THE    SIXTPI    MONARCHY.  [ciI.  XXII. 

towards  the  right,  and  apparently  engaged  in  a  march 
or  procession,  while  above  and  Let  ween  them  were 
smaller  figures  on  horseback,  armed  with  lances,  and 
galloping  ill  the  same  direction.  One  of  these  was 
attended  Ijy  a  figure  of  Fame  or  Victoiy,  flying  in  the 
air,  and  about  to  place  a  diadem  around  his  brow. 
The  present  condition  of  the  sculpture  is  extremely 
bad.  Atmospheric  influences  have  woi'n  away  the  larger 
figures  to  such  an  extent  that  they  are  discerned  with 
difliculty  ;  and  a  I'ecent  Governor  of  Kirmanshah  has 
barbai'ousl}^  inserted  into  the  middle  of  the  relief  an 
arched  niche,  in  which  he  has  placed  a  worthless  Arabic 
inscription.  It  is  with  diflftculty  that  we  form  any 
judgment  of  the  original  artistic  merit  of  a  work  which 
presents  itself  to  us  in  such  a  worn  and  mutilated  form  ; 
but,  on  the  whole,  Ave  are  perhaps  justified  in  pro- 
nouncing; that  it  must  at  its  best  have  been  one  of 
inferior  quality,  even  when  compared  only  Avith  the 
similar  pioductions  of  Asiatics.  The  general  character 
is  rather  that  of  tlie  Sassanian  than  of  the  Assyrian  or 
Persian  [)eriod.  The  human  figures  have  a  heavy 
clumsiness  about  them  that  is  unpleasant  to  contem- 
plate ;  the  horses  are  rudely  outlined,  and  are  too  small 
for  the  men  ;  the  figure  of  Fame  is  out  of  all  propor- 
tion to  the  hero  whom  she  crowns,  and  the  diadc^m 
which  she  places  on  his  head  is  ridiculous,  being  nearly 
as  large  as  herself!  On  the  other  hand,  there  is 
spirit  in  the  attitudes  of  both  men  and  horses;  the 
Fame  floats  well  in  air;  and  the  relief  is  free  from 
that  coarse  gi'otescpicness  which  offends  us  in  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  Sassanian  artists. 

Another  bas-i'elief,  pi-obubly,  but  not  ([uite  certainly 
Parthian,  exists  in  the  goi-ge  of  Sir-])ul-i-zoliab,  and 
has    been    recently  published    in    the    great    work    of 


CH.  XXII.]  BAS-RELIEF    AT    SIR-PUL-I-ZOHAB. 


391 


Partliiiui  l)!is-relief  (after  Flamlin  and  Costc). 


392  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  XXII. 

M.  Flandin.^  The  inscription  on  this  monumeut,  tliougli 
it  has  not  yet  been  deciphered,^  appears  to  Le  written 
in  the  alphabet  found  upon  tlie  Parthian  coins.  The 
monument  seems  to  represent  a  Parthian  king,  mounted 
on  liorseback,  and  receiving  a  chaplet  at  the  hand  of 
a  subject.  The  king  wears  a  cap  bound  round  with 
the  diadem,  the  long  ends  of  which  depend  over  his 
shoulder.  He  is  clothed  in  a  close-fitting  tunic  and 
loose  trowsers,  which  hang  down  upon  his  boots,  and 
wears  also  a  short  cloak  fastened  under  his  chin,  and 
reaching  neai'ly  to  the  knee.  The  horse  which  he 
bestrides  is  small,  l:)ut  strongly  made ;  the  tail  is  long, 
and  the  mane  seems  to  be  plaited.  Thus  far  the  repre- 
sentation, though  somewhat  heavy  and  clumsy,  is  not 
ill-drawn  ;  but  the  remaining  figure — that  of  the  Par- 
thian subject — is  Avholly  without  merit.  The  back  of 
the  man  is  turned,  l)ut  the  legs  are  in  profile ;  one  arm 
is  ridiculously  short,  and  the  head  is  placed  too  near 
the  left  shoulder.  It  ^vould  seem  that  the  artist,  while 
he  took  pains  with  the  representation  of  the  monarch, 
did  not  care  how  ill  he  rendered  the  subordinate 
figure,  wliich  he  left  in  the  unsatisfactory  condition  that 
may  be  seen  in  the  preceding  woodcut. 

A  set  of  reliefs,^  discovered   by  the  Baron  de  Bode 
in  the  year  1841,  are  also  thought  by  the  best  judges 


'  Fhindiii,    Voyage  en  Perse,  torn,  j  'satrap'  seems  to  be  traceable  at  the 
iy.  pi.  208.  commencement  of  the  left-hand  in- 

'  If  the  inscription  were  copied  by  scription. 
a  person  versed  in  the  ch.-iractcr,  it'  ^  These  reliefs  were  coniminii- 
is  probable  that  there  would  he  little  edited  by  the  Baron  to  M.  Fliuidin, 
difficulty  in  deciphering  it.  But  the  and  will  be  found  represented  in  the 
difTerences  between  several  of  the  V(ni((<ie  cit  Pi-rsr,  1o  n.  iv.  p'litos  224 
Parthian  letters  are  so  sli.^ht  ihit  it  and  220.  'I'bey  exist  on  an  isola'el 
is  extremely  hard  for  a  per-on  un-  ninss  of  black  rock,  ni'ar  Tcnirh-i- 
skilled  in  the  character  to  make  a  Saoidek  in  the  l^akhtj'ari  mountains 
correct   transcript.     Still    the   word    (  Voyage,  torn.  i.  pp.  184,  185). 


CH.  XXII.]  BAS-RELIEF    OF    :MAGUS. 


393 


to  be  Parthian,  The  most  Importarit  of  them  i-epre- 
sents  a  personage  of  consequence,  apparently  a  Magus, 
who  seems  to  be  in  the  act  of  consecrating  a  sacied 


Parthian  bas-relief  of  u  Mugus  (after  Flandin  and  Coste). 

cippus,  round  which  have  been  placed  wreaths  or 
chaplets.  Fifteen  spectators  are  present,  arranijed  in 
two  rows,  one  above  the  other,  all  except  the  first  of 


394  THE    SIXTH    MONAECHY.  [CH.    XXII. 

tLem  standing.  The  first  sits  upon  a  rude  chair  or 
stool.  The  figures  generally  are  in  an  advanced  stage 
of  decay  ;  but  that  of  the  Magus  is  tolerably  well  pre- 
served, and  probably  indicates  with  sufficient  accuracy 
the  costume  and  appearance  of  the  great  hierarchs  under 
the  Parthians.  The  conical  cap  described  l)y  Sti'abo^ 
is  very  conspicuous.  Below  this  the  hair  is  worn  in 
tlie  puffed-out  fashion  of  the  later  Parthian  period. 
The  upper  lip  is  ornamented  by  moustaches,  and  the 
chin  covered  by  a  straight  beard.  The  figure  is  dressed 
in  a  long  sleeved  tunic,  over  which  is  woi'ii  a  cloak, 
fastened  at  the  neck  by  around  brooch,  and  descending 
a  little  below  the  knees.  The  leg;s  are  encased  in  a 
"longer  and  a  shorter  pair  of  trowsers,  the  former  plain, 
the  latter  striped  perpendicularly.  Pound  the  neck  is 
Avoi-n  a  collar  or  necklace  ;  and  on  the  I'ight  arm  are 
three  armlets  and  three  bracelets.  The  conical  cap 
appears  to  be  striped  or  fluted. 

On  the  same  I'ock,  but  in  no  very  evident  connection 
with  tlie  main  representation,  is  a  second  relief,  in 
wliich  a  Parthian  cavalier,  armed  with  a  bow  and 
ari'ows,  and  a  spear,  contends  with  a  wild  animal, 
seemingly  a  bear.^  A  long  flowing  robe  here  takes 
the  place  of  the  more  ordinary  tunic  and  trowsers. 
On  the  head  is  worn  a  rounded  cap  or  tiara.  The 
hail'  has  the  usual  puifed-out  ajipeai'ance.  The  bow 
is  carried  in  the  left  hand,  and  the  quiver  hangs 
from  the  saddle  behind  the  rider,^  while  with  his  i'ight 


•  Strab.  XV.  3,  §  15. 
"  M.   Flandin  doubts  whether  the 
animal  is  intended  for  a  bear  or  a 


'  Compare  a  representation  of  a 
Parthian  warrior  in  M.  Flandin's 
work  (pi.  225) ;  and  see  also  the  coin 


Won  (Voi/ar/r,  p.  185)  ;  but  his  repre- j  of    Labienus,   which  represents  him 
sentation    fairly  resembles  the  for-    equip[)ed  in  Parthian  fashion  (supra, 
mer,  while  it  presents  no  likeness  to    p.  189). 
the  latter  animal.  j 


en.   XXII.]         BAS-KELTEF    OF    CAVALIEF.    AXD    BEAK. 


395 


hand  lie  tLriists  liis  spear  Into  tlie  lieast's  neck.     The 
execution  of  the  whole  tablet  seems  to  have  been  rude  : 


but  it  has  suffered  so  much  from   time  and  weather, 
that  no  v^ery  decided  judgment  can  be  passed  upon  it. 
Another   still   ruder  representation    occurs  also  on 
another   face  of  the   same   rock.     This   consists    of   a 


396  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [cH.  XXII. 

female  figure  i-eclining  upon  a  couch,  and  guarded  by 
tliree  male  attendants,  one  at  tlie  head  of  the  couch 
unarmed,  and  the  remaining  two  at  its  foot,  seated,  and 
armed  Avith  spears.  The  female  has  puffed-out  hair, 
and  carried  in  her  riglit  hand,  ^vbicli  is  outstretched,  a 
wreath  or  chaplet.  One  of  the  spearmen  has  a  curious 
rayed  head-dress ;  and  the  otlier  lias  a  short  streamer 
attached  to  the  head  of  liis  spear.  Below  the  main 
tablet  are  three  rudely  carved  standing  figures,  repre- 
senting prol)ably  other  attendants. 

This  set  of  reliefs  may  perhaps  be  best  regarded  as 
forming  a  single  series,  the  Parthian  king  being  repre- 
sented as  engaged  in  hunting  the  bear,  while  the  queen 
awaits  his  return  upon  her  couch,  and  the  chief  Magus 
attached  to  the  court  makes  prayer  for  the  monarch's 
safety. 

Such  are  the  chief  remains  of  Parthian  aesthetic  art. 
They  convey  an  idea  of  decline  below  the  standard 
reached  by  the  Persians  of  the  Achaemenian  times, 
which  was  itself  a  decline  from  the  earlier  ai't  of  the 
Assyrians,  Had  they  been  the  efforts  of  a  race  devoid 
of  models,  they  might  fairly  have  been  regarded  as  not 
altogether  without  promise.  But,  considered  as  the 
work  of  a  nation  which  possessed  the  Achsemenian 
sculptures,  and  which  had  moreover,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, access  to  Greek  examples,^  they  must  l)e  pro- 
nounced clumsy,  coarse,  and  wanting  in  all  the  higher 
qualities  of  Fine  Art.  It  is  no  wonder  that  they  are 
scanty  and  exceptional.     The  nation  which  could  pro- 


*  The  snulptiires  at  Perscpoli>, 
Nakhsh-i-Kiistain,  Behistun,  &c., 
must  always  liuve  been  exposed  to 
view,    and    would    have    sufficed  to 


actually  found  amonp;  the  Parthians 
had  they  possessed  fair  aesthetic 
capacity.  That,  besides  these,  they 
possessed    Greek     models     nppears 


form  a  better  taste  than  that  which  is  '  from   the  emblems  upon  their  cjins. 


ClI.  XXII.]    POOR  CIIAKACTEU  OF  THE  PARTHIAN  ART.       897 

diice  nothing  better  must  have  felt  that  its  vocation  was 
not  to\vards  the  artistic,  and  that  its  powers  had  better 
be  employed  in  other  directions,  e.g.  in  conquest  and 
in  organisation.  It  would  seem  that  the  Parthians 
perceived  this,  and  therefore  devoted  slight  attention 
to  the  Fine  Arts,  preferi'ing  to  occupy  themselves 
mainly  with  those  pursuits  in  which  they  excelled  ; 
viz.  war,  hunting,  and  government. 


398 


THE   SIXTH    JMONAKCHY.  [CH.  XXIIL 


CHAPTER  XXIIL 


Customs  of  the  PartMans — in  Religion;  in  War;  in  their  Embassies 
and  Dealings  icith  Foreign  Nut  ions  ;  at  the  Court;  in  Private  Life. 
Extent  of  the  Refinement  to  which  tlieij  reached.  Their  gradual  Decline 
in   Taste  and  Knowledge. 

"EOrj  s^oi-Ta  ro?.v  filv  to  jiupjiapov  koI  to  'E^v^Jckov,  nyjoi'  jin'Toi  to  xP'/^t/J-ov  npoS 
T/yeiiov:au  kciI  t)ji>  iv  Toii  7roAt\uoii  Karo/iOcoaii'. — Strab.  xi.  9,  §  2. 

Very  little  is  known  as  to  the  relioion  of  tlie  Parthians. 
It  seems  probable  that  during  the  Persian  period  they 
submitted  to  the  Zoroastrian  system/  which  was  gene- 
rally maintained  by  the  Achaemeniau  kings,  acquiescing, 
like  the  great  bulk  of  the  conquered  nations,  in  the  reli- 
gious views  of  their  conquerors  ;  but  as  this  was  not 
their  own  religion,  we  may  conclude  that  they  were 
at  no  time  v^ery  zealous  followers  of  the  Bactrian  pro- 
phet,~  and  that  as  age  succeeded  age  they  became 
continually  moi'e  lukewarm  in  their  feelings,  and  more 
lax  in  their  religious  practice.  The  essence  of  Zoroas- 
trian belief  was  dualism — recoojnition  of  Ormazd  as  the 
great  Pi-inciple  of  Good,  and  of  Ahriman  as  the  Prin- 
ciple of  Evil.  We  need  not  doubt  that,  in  word,  the 
Parthians  from  first  to  last  admitted  this  antagonism, 
and  professed  a  belief  in  Ormazd  as  the  supi'eme 
god,  and  a  dread  of  Ahriman  and  his  ministers.     But 


'  By  '  the  Zoroastrian  system  ' 
must  be  here  understood,  not  the 
origiiml  tc:icliini^  of  Zoroaster  as  ex- 
liihited  to  us  in  the  more  ancient  por- 
tions of  tlie  Zendavesta  (see  tlie  au- 
tiior's  Ancient  Ifonnrchiei,  vol.  ii.  pp. 
322-344),     but   tho   mixed   religion 


produced  by  the  contact  of  Zoroas- 
trianisin  wilh  Magism,  wliich  was 
adopted  by  the  Ach;emcnian  mo- 
narchs  from  Xerxes  downwards. 
(Ibid    pp.  344-354.) 

-  Amm.  Marc,  xxiii.  6,  p.  405,  ed, 
Gronov. 


CII.  XXIII.]  RELIGIOX    OF    THE    PARTIIIAXS.  399 

practically,  their  religious  aspirations  rested,  not  on 
these  dim  abstractions,  but  on  beings  whose  existence 
they  could  better  realise,  and  whom  they  could  feel  to 
be  less  remote  from  themselves.  The  actual  devotion 
of  the  Pai'thians  was  offered  to  the  Sun  and  Moon,  to 
deities  who  were  supposed  to  preside  over  the  ro\al 
house,  and  to  ancestral  idols  which  each  family  pos- 
sessed, and  conveyed  w-ith  it  from  place  to  place  with 
every  change  of  habitation.  The  Sun  was  saluted  at 
his  rising,*  was  worshipped  in  temples,  under  the  name 
of  Mithra,  wath  sacrifices  and  offei'ings;^  had  statues 
erected  in  his  honour,  and  was  usually  associated  ^vith 
the  lesser  luminary.^  The  deities  of  the  royal  house 
were  probably  either  genii,  ministers  of  Ormazd,  to 
whom  Avas  committed  the  special  protection  of  tlie 
monarchs  and  their  families,  like  the  hagdlia  vitliiyd 
of  the  Persians,'*  or  else  the  ancestors  of  the  reio-nini]: 
monarch,  to  whom  a  qualified  divinity  seems  to  have 
been  assigned  in  the  later  times  of  the  empire.^  The 
Parthian  kings  usually  swore  by  these  deities  on 
solemn  occasions  ;  ^  and  other  members  of  the  royal 
family  made  use  of  the  same  oath.''  The  main  wor- 
ship, however,  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  even 
wdien  they  were  of  the  I'oyal  stock,  was  concenti-ated 
upon  ancestral  images,^  which  had  a  place  sacred  to 


'  Herodian.  iv.  30.      ' AcTraaa/ievoi 
The   worship   at   Tlatra  f-npra, 


See  Mos.  Choren.  1.  s.  c. 
Joseph.  Ant.  Jud.  xviii.  9,  §  3. 
Ibid.  §  6. 


p.  348)  is  probably  a  fair  speritnen  !  »  ^^  j,.j^g  ^^  account  of  this 
of  the  Parthian  cult  of  ihe  Sun  at  worship  only  in  Josephus  (.4??^.  Jud. 
other  places.  Tiie  Hatrene  worship  xviii.  9,  §  .5);  he,  however,  appears 
may  have  had  an  Arabian  linge,  but.  to  be  perfectly  familiar  with  it.  He 
on  the  whole,  it  is  probable  that  it  calls  the  images  apu'^fivfjnrn  rwr  Oeuv 
conformed  itself  to  that  of  the  dom-  and  ae-idaixaTa,  and  '  the  worship 
inant  people.  offered    to    tiiem   Oepa-^eiav    or    0/jj?- 

'  Mos.  Chor.  Hid.  Ann.  ii.  74.         oKciav. 

*  Persep.  Inscr.  H.  11.  14,  22,  24.    j 


400  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [cji.  XXIII. 

them  in  eacli  house,  and  received  the  constant  adoration 
of  the  househohl 

In  the  early  times  of  the  en^piie  the  Magi  were  held 
in  high  repute,  and  most  of  the  peculiar  tenets  and 
rites  of  the  Magian  religion  were  professed  and  fol- 
lowed by  the  Parthians.  Elemental  worship  was  prac- 
tised. Fire  was,  no  doubt,  held  sacred,  and  there  was 
an  especial  reverence  for  rivei-s.^  Dead  l)odies  were 
not  burned,  but  were  exposed  to  1)0  devoured  by  birds 
and  beasts  of  prey,  after  wliich  the  dry  l)ones  were 
collected  and  placed  in  tomt)s^  1  he  ]\[;igi  formed  a 
large  portion  of  the  great  national  council,  wliicli 
elected  and,  if  need  were,  deposed  the  kings.^  But  in 
.course  of  time  much  laxity  Avas  introduced.  The 
Arsacid  monarchs  of  Armenia  allowed  the  Sacred  Fire 
of  Ormazd,  which  ought  to  have  been  kept  continually 
T)urning,  to  go  out;^  and  we  can  scarcely  suppose  but 
that  the  Parthian  Arsacichv  shared  their  negligence. 
Hespect  for  the  element  of  fii-e  so  entirely  passed  away, 
that  we  hear  of  the  later  Parthians  burnins;  their 
dead.°  The  Magi  fell  into  disi-epute,  and,  if  not 
ex[)elled  from  their  2)lace  in  the  council,  at  any  rate 
found  themselves  des])ised  and  deprived  of  influence,^ 
The  later  Parthian  reliojion  can  have  been  little  more 
than  a  worship  of  the  Sun  and  Moon,  and  of  the  tera- 
phim^  or  sacred  images,  which  were  the  most  precious 
possession  of  each  household. 

While  thus  lax  and  chanii^eful  in  their  own  reHiJcious 
practice,  the  Parthians  were,  naturally,  tolerant  of  a 
variety  of  creeds  among  their  subjects.  Fire  altars 
were  maintained,  and  Zoroastrian  zeal  was  allowed  to 


'  Justin,  xli.  3. 

^  Ibid. 

=  Strul).  xi.  9,  §  3. 


*  Mos.  Chori  n.  Hist.  Arm.  1.  s.  c 
"  llerodiun.  iv.  30. 
"  Agathias,  ii.  20. 


en.  XXIII.] 


PARTHIAN    TOLERANCE. 


401 


flourisli  in  the  dependent  kingdom  of  Persia.^  In  the 
Greek  cities  the  Olympian  gods  were  permitted  to 
receiv^e  the  veneration  of  thousands, "  while  in  Babylon, 
Nearda,  and  Nisibis  the  Jews  enjoyed  the  free  exercise 
of  their  comparatively  pure  and  elevated  religion.^ 
No  restrictions  seem  to  have  been  placed  on  prosely- 
tism,  and  Judaism  certainly  boasted  many  converts 
from  the  heathen  in  Adiabene,  Charax  Spasini,  and 
elsewhere.'*  Christianity  also  penetrated  the  Parthian 
provinces  to  a  considerable  extent,  andin  one  Parthian 
country,  at  any  rate,  seems  to  have  become  the  state 
reliorion.  The  kinoes  of  Osrhoene  are  thouo-ht  to  have 
been  Christians  from  the  time  of  the  Antonines,^  if  not 
from  that  of  our  Lord  ;  ^  and  a  flourishing  church  was 
certainly  established  at  Edessa  before  the  end  of  the 
second  century."  The  Parthian  Jews  who  were  wit- 
nesses of  the  miraculous  events  which  siofnalised  the 
day  of  Pentecost^  may  have,  in  some  cases,  taken  with 
them  the  new  religion  to  the  land  where  they  had  their 
residence ;  or  tlie  Apostle,  St.  Thomas,  may  (as  Euse- 
bius  declares^)  have  carried  the  Gospel  into  the  regions 


'  See  above,  p.  365. 

*  Amm.  Marc,  xxiii.  6.  p.  403 ; 
Jul.  Capit.  Vit.  Ver.  Imp.  §  8. 

^  Joseph.  Ant.  Jud.  xviii.  9,  §  1, 
et  seq. 

*  Ibid. 

*  See  Bayer,  Hist.  Edess' e  numis 
illustrnta,  iii.  p.  173,  and  Asseman, 
Bihliothecd  Orientalis,  vol.  i.  p. 
423. 

'  On  the  suppose!  letter  of  Ab- 
garus.  king  of  Edessa,  to  our  Lord, 
and  the  reply  to  it,  his  cure  by 
Thaddaius,  and  the  conversion  of  his 
subjects,  see  Euseb.  Hid.  Ec.  i.  13, 
and  compare  Lardner,  Credihiliti/, 
vol.  vi.  p.  59G,   and  Burton,  Eccles. 


Hist,  of  First  Three  Centuries.,  vol.  i. 
pp.  328,  329. 

'  A  council  was  held  in  Edessa 
on  the  proper  time  for  keeping 
Easter  in  the  year  a.d.  198.  (Bur- 
ton, vol.  ii.  p.  216.)  The  Syriac 
(Pe.shito)  version  of  the  Scriptures 
was  probably  made  for  the  Edessene 
Christians  before  the  end  of  the  first 
century  (ib.  vol.  i.  p.  328  ;  Michaelis, 
Introduction,  vii.  §  8). 

«  Acts,  ii.  9. 

'  Hist.  Ecdes.  iii.  1.  RuBnus,  who 
wrote  in  the  fourth  century,  says 
that  St.  Thomas  was  buried  at 
Edessa.  (Hist.  Ecd.  ii.  5.  Com- 
pare Socrat.  iv.  18andSozom.  vi.  18.) 


402  THE  SIXTH  MONAKCiir.  [cii.  xxni. 

beyond  tlie  Euphrates,  and  have  planted  the  Christian 
Church  in  the  countries  out  of  which  the  Jewish  Church 
sprang.  Besides  the  flourishing  community  of  Edessa, 
which  Avas  predominantly,  if  not  wholly,  Chi'istian  from 
the  middle  of  the  second  century,  many  converts  were, 
we  are  told,  to  be  found  among  tlie  inhabitants  of 
Persia,  Media,  Parthia  Proper,  and  even  Bactria.^ 
The  infusion,  howev^er,  was  not  sufficient  to  leaven  to 
any  serious  extent  the  corrupt  mass  of  heathenism  into 
which  it  was  jirojected  ;  and  we  cannot  say  that  the 
general  cliaracter  of  the  Partliian  empire,  or  of  the 
manners  and  customs  of  its  sul)jects,  was  importantly 
affected  by  the  new  religion,  though  it  had  an  extraor- 
dinary influence  over  individuals. 

The  Parthians  were  essentially  a  Avarlike  people; 
and  the  chief  interest  Avhich  attaches  to  them  is  con- 
nected Avith  their  military  vigour  and  ability.  It  is 
Avorth  while  to  consider  at  some  length  the  peculiarities 
of  that  military  system  Avhicli  proved  itself  superior  to 
the  organisation  of  the  Macedonians,  and  able  to  main- 
tain for  nearly  three  hundred  years  a  doubtful  contest 
Avith  the  otherAvise  irresistible  Romans. 

We  are  told  that  the  Parthians  had  no  standing 
army.^  When  Avar  Avas  proclaimed  and  the  monarch 
needed  a  force,  he  made  his  immediate  vassals  ac- 
quainted with  the  fact,  and  requested  each  of  them  to 
marshal  their  troops,  and  bring  them  to  a  fixed  ren- 
dezvous by  a  certain  day.^  The  troops  thus  summoned 
were  of  two  kinds,  Parthian  and  foreign.  The  go- 
vernors of  the  provinces,  Avhether  tributary  kings  or 


'  Bardesanps  <ap.  Euseb.  Prmp. 
Ec.  \\.  10.  Bardesancs  was  a  native 
of  E<le^sa,  and  wi'ote  a  little  after 
the  middle  of  the  second  century 


'  Ibid.  'O  YlnpOvn'ioS  ewiare^elv 
l-^T]  Toli;  c^iTpanaii  fiiivn^Lv  aOpnit^eiv 
ovru  yjp  c'tuOei',  onrjv'iKa  uv  6e7}0^ 
CTjiarbv   cv7.Atyeiv,  ru  /i?/  t;(eiv  /iicOuipo- 


"^  Ilcrodian.  iii.  1.  [  pavi  i:al  rvt'EnrdS  crpariuTiKoi 


CH.  XXIII.]       CUSTOMS    or   THE    PARTIIIANS    IN    WAR.       403 


satraps,  called  out  the  military  streugth  of  their  respec- 
tive districts,  saw  to  tlieir  armiug  and  provisioning, 
and,  marchino;  eacli  at  the  head  of  his  contincjent, 
brought  a  foreign  auxiliary  force  to  the  assistance  of 
the  Great  King.^  But  the  back-bone  of  the  army,  its 
main  strength,  the  portion  on  which  alone  much  re- 
liance was  placed,  consisted  of  Parthians.  Each  Par- 
thian noble  was  bound  to  call  out  his  slaves  and  his 
retainers,  to  arm  and  equip  them  at  his  own  expense, 
and  bring  them  to  the  rendezvous  by  the  time  named.^ 
The  number  of  troops  furnished  by  each  noble  varied 
according  to  his  position  and  his  means  ;  we  hear  in 
one  instance  of  their  amounting  to  as  many  as  10,000,^ 
"wliile  in  another  recorded  case"*  the  averasre  number 
which  each  furnished  was  no  more  than  125.  The 
various  contingents  had  their  own  baggage- trains, 
consisting  ordinarily  of  camels,  in  the  proportion  (as  it 
would  seem)  of  one  to  every  ten  fighting-men,^ 

A  Parthian  army  consisted  usually  of  both  horse  and 
foot,  but  in  proportions  unusual  elsewhere.  The  foot 
soldiers  were  comparatively  few  in  numl)er,  and  were 
regarded  as  of  small  account.^  Every  effort  was  made 
to  increase  the  amount  and  improve  the  equij^ment  of 
the  horsemen,  who  bore  the  brunt  of  every  fight,  and 
from  whose  exertions  alone  victory  was  hoped.     Some- 


'  The^ie  auxiliary  forces  are  not 
often  mentioned  by  the  Greek  and 
Latin  writer<.  Still  occasionally  we 
catch  a  glimpse  of  them.  (See 
Joseph,  xviii.  9,  §  2;  xx.  3,  §  4, 
&c.) 

^  Justin,  xli.  2. 

'  Plutarch,  Crnss.  §  21.  I^lxe  6k 
ToxjQ  avfiTTavrai  'nnzeic  [6  "ZovpTJvac], 
ofiov  TveXuTaS  re  kol  6ov7Mvi,  fivpluv 
OVK  (nroSiovrai. 

*  Justin  (1.  s.  c.)  estimates  the 
nobles  in  the  Parthian  army  which 


fought  against  Antony  at  400,  the 
army  itself  at  50,000.  This  would 
give  to  each  noble  an  average  of  125 
followers. 

^  This,  at  any  rate,  was  the  pro- 
portion in  the  case  mentioned  in 
note  ^  where  the  10,000  slaves  and 
retainers  of  Surenas  were  accom- 
panied by  a  thousand  baggage- 
camels.  (Plut.  1.  s.  c. ;  Appian,. 
Pnrth.  p.  141.) 

°  Plut.  Crass.  §  19  ;  Appian,  Parth. 
p.  138. 


404 


THE    SIXTH    ]MONARCHY. 


[CII.  XXIIT. 


times  armies  consisted  of  horsemen  only/  or  rather  of 
horsemen  followed  by  a  baggage  train  composed  of 
camels  and  chariots. 

The  horse  were  of  two  kinds,  heavy  and  light.  The 
heavy  horsemen  (^juxracppcxKroi)  wore  coats  of  mail, 
reaching  to  their  knees,  composed  of  raw  hide  covered 
with  scales  of  iron  or  steel,~  veiy  bright,^  and  capal)le  of 
resisting  a  strong  blow.'*  They  had  on  their  heads  l)iir- 
nished  helmets  of  Margian  steel,  whose  glitter  dazzled  the 
spectator.^  Their  Jegs  seem  not  to  have  been  greaved, 
but  encased  in  a  loose  trousei',  which  hung  about  the 
ankles  and  embarrassed  the  feet,  if  by  any  chance  the 
horseman  was  forced  to  dismount.*"  They  carried  no 
shield,'^  being  sufficiently  defended  by  their  coats  of 
mail.  Their  offensive  arms  were  a  long  spear  (^Korroi), 
which  was  of  great  strength  and  thickness,^  and  a  bow 
and  arrows  of  unusual  size.^  They  likewise  carried  in 
their  girdle  a  short  sword  ^^  or  knife  (//^^j^-zpa'),  which 
might  be  used  in  close  combat.  Their  horses  were, 
like  themselves,  protected  by  a  defence  of  scale 
armour,"  which  was  either  of  steel  or  bronze.*^ 


'  As  that  employed  against  Cras- 
sus.     (See  above,  p.  159.) 

^  QupuKai  <l)/iofivf)n(ivS  Kn).  nu^ripnvi. 
Plut.  Crass.  §25.  Compare  Justin, 
xli.  2,  odjin. 

''  Plut.   Grass.  §  24. 

*  Ibid.  §§  18,  25. 

^  Il)id.  i}  24.  KpdvTj  Tov  Mapytavov 
aiih/fxw  ori'AiSnvToS   o^v  Kol  nvi)ikafjLTTEi. 

«  Ilerodiun.  iv.  30,  p.  173.  The 
representation  of  a  mailed  warrior 
thus  attired  at  Takht-i-IJostan  (Ker 
Porter,  vol.  ii.  PI.  62),  thou;^Ii  of  the 
Sassanian  period,  lends  force  to  the 
statement  of  Ilerodian. 

'  l)io  Cass.  xl.  15.  Compare 
Justin,  xli.  2,  ad  fin. 

*  Plut.  Ant.  i  45;  Grass.  §  27; 
Dio  Cass.  xl.  22  ;  Appian,  Parth.  p. 
148:  Herodian.  iv.  30. 


"  x\pp.  Parth.  p.  144.  The  size 
and  strength  of  the  bow  which  they 
used  enal)ied  the  Parthians  to  de- 
liver their  arrows  at  a  speed  which 
was  very  unusual,  and  which  made 
them  iHost  formidable  archers.  (See 
Plut.  Grass.  §§  18  and  24.)  The 
arrow  was  not  seen  till  it  struck,  and 
it  pierced  easil}'  through  all  custom- 
ary armour. 

'"  Tlie  knife,  which  was  worn  in 
private  life  (Joseph.  Ant.  Jud.  xviii. 
2,  §  4),  was  certainly  not  laid  aside 
in  war.  Tt  was  frequently  employed 
to  cut  off  the  head  of  a  dead  enemy. 
(Plut.  Grass.  ^^  25  and  31.) 

"  Justin,  1.  s.  c. 

■'■'  Plut.  Crass,  §  24,  ad  init. 


CH.  XXIII.]       CUSTOMS   OF   THE   PARTIIIANS    IN   WAK.       405 

The  lisrht  horse  was  armed  with  the  same  sort  of 
bows  and  arrows  as  the  lieavy,  1)iit  carried  no  spear 
and  wore  no  armour.  It  was  carefully  trained  to  the 
management  of  the  horse  and  the  bow/  and  was  un- 
equalled in  the  rapidity  and  dexterity  of  its  move- 
ments. The  archer  delivered  his  arrows  with  as  much 
precision  and  force  in  retreat  as  in  ad\^ance,  and  was 
almost  more  feared  when  he  retired  than  when  he 
charged  his  foe.^  Besides  his  arrows,  the  light  horse- 
man seems  to  have  carried  a  sword,^  and  he  no  doubt 
wore  also  the  customary  knife  in  his  belt. 

We  are  told  by  one  writer  ^  that  it  was  a  practice 
of  the  Parthians  to  bring  into  battle  a  number  of  led 
horses,  and  that  the  riders  from  time  to  time  ex- 
changed their  tired  steeds  for  fresh  ones,  thus  obtain- 
ing a  great  advantage  over  enemies  who  had  no 
such  practice.  But  the  accounts  which  we  have  of 
Parthian  eng^as-ements  make  no  reference  to  this  usaQ-e, 
which  we  can  therefoi'e  scarcely  suppose  to  have  been 
adopted  to  any  large  extent.  It  may  be  doubted,  also, 
if  the  practice  could  ever  be  one  of  much  value,  since 
the  difficulty  of  managing  led  horses  amid  the  tumult 
of  a  battle  would  probably  more  than  counterbalance 
the  advantage  derivable  from  relays  of  fresh  steeds. 

During  the  later  period  of  the  monarchy,  the  Par- 
thians, who  had  always  employed  camels  largely  in  the 
conveyance  of  stores  and  baggage,^  ai'e  said  to  have 
introduced  a  camel  corps  into  the  army  itself,  and  to 
have   derived  considerable    advantao:e  from  the   new 


'  Justin,  1.  s.  c.       '  ITos  pari  ac  li-    Od.  i.  19,  11  ;  ii.  13,  16  ;  Tacit.  Ann. 
beros  suos  cura  habent.  et  cquitare  !  vi.  35. 
et    sagittiire    magna    industria    do-  j      '  Dio  Cass.  xl.  24. 
cent.'  "  Dio  Cass.  1.  s.  c. 

-  Pint.    Crass.  §  24,  ad^ftii..  ;  Jus-        "  Pint.      Crass.     §     21  ;    Appian, 
tin,  xli.  2  ;  Virg.   Geor(j.  iii.  31  ;  Hor.     Pdrlhirtf,  p.  144. 


406 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.   XXUL 


&Ym}  The  camels  could  bear  the  weight  of  the  niailed 
warrior  and  of  their  own  armour  better  thu.ii  horses, 
aud  their  riders  were  at  oaee  more  safe  in  their  ele- 
vated position  and  more  capable  of  dealing  effective 
blows  upon  the  enemy.  As  a  set-oif,  however,  against 
these  advantages,  the  spongy  feet  of  the  camel  were 
found  to  be  moi-e  readily  injured  by  the  tribalus^  or 
caltrop,  than  the  harder  feet  of  the  horse,  and  the 
corps  was  thus  more  easily  disabled  than  an  equal 
force  of  cavalry,  if  it  could  be  tempted  to  pass  over 
ground  on  which  caltrops  had  been  previously  scat- 
tered.^ 

The  Parthian  tactics  were  of  a  simple  kind,  aad  dif- 
fered little  from  those  of  other  nations  in  the  eamo 
region,  which  have  depended  mainly  on  tlieir  cavalry. 
To  surround  their  foe,  to  involve  him  in  difficulties,  to 
cut  oft'  his  supplies  and  his  stragglers,  and  ultimately 
to  bring  him  into  a  position  where  he  might  be  over- 
whelmed by  missiles,  was  the  aim  of  all  Parthian  com- 
manders of  any  military  capacity.  Their  warfare  w^^is 
suited  for  defence  rather  than  for  attack,  unless  against 
contemptible  enemies.^  They  were  had  hands  at 
sieges,"*  and  seldom  ventured  to  engage  in  them,  though 
they  would  do  so  if  circumstances  required  it.^  They 
wearied  of  long  campaigns,  and  if  they  did  not  find 
victory  tolerably  easy,  were  apt  to  retire  and  allow 
their  foe  to  escape,^  or  baftle  him  by  withdrawing  theii 


'  ITerodiiin.  iv.  28,  30. 

^  Tbid.  p.  172. 

^  Dio  Cass.  xl.  15,  ad  fin. 

^  Justin,  xli.  2: — 'Obsessas  ex- 
pugnare  urbcf^  nesciunt.'  Compare 
Dio  Cass.  xl.  29  ('Ai^iJrrtrot  nokiopnF/- 
aai  ri  r/nnv)  and  Tacit.  Ann.  xv.  4 
('  Partho  ad  cxsc(|ucndas  obsidiones 
nulla  corainus  audacia '). 

'  They   were  ready    to  have   be- 


sieged Crassus  in  Carrha*,  if  he  had 
sliut  himself  up  in  it  (Plut.  Crans. 
§  28).  They  actually  besieged  An. 
tioch  in  b.c.  52,  and  Apama;ain  b.c, 
40.     (See  above,  pp.  180  and  187.) 

»  See  Plut.  Anton.  §  49.  Then' 
persistency  against  Macrinus  is 
noticed  as  something  strange  and 
unusual  (Ilerodian.  iv.  30  ;  pp.  173, 
174). 


CH.  XXIII.]  PARTHIAN   TACTICS.  407 

forces  into  a  distant  and  inaccessible  region.  After 
their  early  victories  over  Crassiis  and  Antony,  tliey 
never  succeeded  in  preventing  the  steady  advance  of 
a  Roman  army  into  tlieir  territory,  or  in  repulsing  a 
detei-mined  attack  upon  their  capital.  Still  they  gene- 
rally had  their  revenge  after  a  short  time.  It  was 
easy  for  the  Koraans  to  overrun  Mesopotamia,  but  it 
was  not  so  easy  for  them  to  hold  it ;  and  it  was  scarcely 
possiV)le  for  them  to  retire  from  it  after  an  occupation 
without  disaster.  The  clouds  of  Parthian  horse  hung 
upon  their  retreating  columns,  straitened  them  for  pro- 
visions, galled  them  with  missiles,  and  destroyed  those 
who  could  not  keep  up  with  the  main  body.  The  towns 
upon  the  line  of  their  retreat  revolted  and  shut  their 
gates,  defying  even  such  commanders  as  Severus  and 
Trajan.  Of  the  six  great  expeditions  of  Eome  against 
Parthia,  one  only,  that  of  Avidius  Cassius,  was  entirely 
successfid.  In  every  other  case  eithei'  the  failure  of 
the  expedition  was  complete,  or  the  glory  of  the 
advance  was  tarnished  by  disaster  and  suffering  during 
the  retreat. 

The  results  of  invading  Parthia  would  have  been 
even  more  calamitous  to  an  assailant  but  for  one  weak 
point  in  the  military  system  of  the  Parthians.  They 
were  excessively  unwilling  to  venture  near  an  enemy 
at  night,  and  as  a  general  rule  abstained  from  all  mili- 
tary movements  during  the  hours  of  darkness.'  As 
evening  approached,  they  drew  off  to  a  consideraT)le 
distance  from  their  foe,  and  left  him  unmolested  to 
retreat  in  any  direction  that  he  pleased.  The  reason 
of  this  probably  was,  not  merely  that  they  did  not 


'  Pint.    Crass.  §  29 : — l^vK-nuaxdv    ov    Trdrpiov    avToK    kcTiv.      Compare 
Anton.  %^1. 


408 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.  xxiir. 


foi'tify  their  camps ;  ^  but  that,  depending  wholly  on 
their  horses,  and  being  forced  to  hob))le  or  tether  them 
at  night,  they  could  not  readily  get  into  fighting  oi-der 
on  a  sudden  durins^  darkness.  Once  or  twice  in  the 
course  of  their  history,  we  find  them  departing  from 
their  policy  of  extreme  precaution,  and  recommencing 
the  pursuit  of  a  flying  foe  before  dawn  ;  but  it  is  noted 
as  au  unusual  occurrence.^ 

It  was  also  a  general  principle  of  Parthian  warfare 
to  abstain  from  campaigning  during  the  winter.^  So 
much  depended  upon  the  tension  of  their  bow-strings, 
which  any  dampness  relaxed,  that  their  rule  was  to 
make  all  their  expeditions  in  the  dry  time  of  their 
year,  which  lasted  from  early  in  the  spring  until  late 
in  the  autumn.  The  rule  was,  however,  transgressed 
upon  occasions.  Phraates  II.  made  his  attack  upon 
Antiochus  Sidetes,  while  the  snow  was  still  upon  the 
ground  ;■*  and  Volagases  I.  fell  upon  Pi^tus  after  the 
latter  had  sent  his  troops  into  winter  quarters.^  The 
Parthians  could  bear  cold  no  less  than  heat ;  though  it 
was  perhaps  rather  in  the  endurance  of  the  latter  than 
of  the  former  that  they  surpassed  the  Komans.  The 
sun's  rays  were  never  too  hot  for  them  ;  ^  and  they 
did  not  need  water  frequently  or  in  large  quanti- 
ties. The  Romans  believed  that  they  increased  their 
ability  of  bearing  thirst  by  means  of  certain  drugs 
which   they   consumed ;  '^    but   it  may  be  questioned 


'  So  Dio  (xl.  9A).  But  the  real 
grounds  of  their  usage,  a  usage 
common  to  them  with  the  Persians, 
are  hetter  seen  from  what  Xenophon 
saj's  f)f  the  hitter.  (Aiiah.  iii.  4,  §  34. 
Compare  Ancient  Monarchies,  vol.  iv. 
p.  138.) 

"^  llap  d,  rh  el  uO  6  S  In  vvKToi 
muKOV.     (Plut.  Ant.  §47.) 


^  Dio  Cass.  xl.  15  ;  Plut.  Anton. 
§40. 

*  See  above,  p.  103. 

*  See  above,  p.  276. 

"  Tov  fiTiinv  (pXnyudearaTov  ovra 
avexovrai  75  avvT/Oeia.  (Dio  Cass. 
1.  s.  c.) 

'  Ibid. 


CH.  XXITl]  PARTHIAN   USE    OF    CHARIOTS.  409 

whether  they  really  employed  any  other  remedies  than 
habit  and  resolution. 

We  find  no  use  of  chariots  among  the  Parthians, 
except  for  the  conveyance  of  the  females,  who  accom- 
panied the  nobles  upon  their  expeditions.  The  wives 
and  concubines  of  the  chiefs  followed  the  camp  in  great 
numbers ;  ^  and  women  of  a  less  reputable  class,  singers, 
dancers,  and  musicians,  swelled  the  ranks  of  the  super- 
numeraries.^ Many  of  these  were  Greeks  from  Seleucia 
and  other  Macedonian  towns.^  The  commissariat  and 
transport  departments  are  said  to  have  been  badly 
organised  ;  ^  but  some  thousands  of  baggage  camels 
alwa3^s  accompanied  an  army,^  carrying  stores  and 
provisions.  Of  these  a  considerable  portion  were  laden 
with  arrows,^  of  which  the  supply  was  in  this  way 
rendered  inexhaustible. 

The  use  of  the  elephant  in  war  was  still  more  rare 
in  Parthia  than  that  of  the  chariot.  While  the  Seleucid 
kings  employed  the  animal  to  a  large  extent,'''  and  its 
use  was  also  probably  known  to  the  Greek  princes  of 
Bactria,^  the  Arsacidse  appear  to  have  almost  en- 
tirely neglected  it.  On  one  occasion  alone  do  we  find 
their  employment  of  it  mentioned,^  and  then  we  hear 


'  Plutarch  says  that  the  general    slaves  and  retainers,  the  entire  army 
employed  against   Crassus  was  ac-  j  may  be  presumed  to  have  been  ac- 
companied by  200  chariots  contain-   companied  by  several  thousands, 
ing  his  concubines  {Crann.  §  21).         |      °  Ibid.  §  25,  ad  init. 

*  Ibid.    §   32.     KrtT-'  ovpav  Tf/i  <pu-  1      '  Polyb.  x.  34.  §  11  ;  xxxi.  3,  §  11 ; 
Xayyoi  e'li  nopvaS  kol  KporaAn  Kai  ipaX-  ,  Strab.     XV.     1,    §    3(i  ;     Plut      Alex, 
fioiii    Kal    Travivx'^ni    aKn/^daruvc   fiiTu    §  62. 
yvvaiKC)v  re'/.evTiJnav.  **  The  elephant  occurs  on  the  coins 

'  Ibid.    "Le'/.EVK.dn^ei  kralpai  iiovaovp-  ,  of  the  Bactrian  k  ngs  (Minnnet,  Snp- 
yoi.  \plemeiit,    torn.    viii.    pp.    482,    485). 

•*  Dio  Cass.  xl.  15,  ad  Jin.  j  One   monarch,    Demetrius,  wears  a 

'  Plut.    CrasH.  §  21.     If  the  gene-    head-dress  made  out  of  the  head  of 
ral  emjiloyed  against  Crassus  had  a   an  elephant  (ibid.  p.  473). 
thousand  baggage  camels  for  his  own        ^  Tacit.  .•!««.  xv.  15. 


410 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH. 


xxiir. 


of  only  a  single  animal,  which  is  ridden  by  the  monarch. 
Probably  the  unwieldy  creature  was  regarded  by  the 
Parthian s  as  too  heavy  and  clumsy  for  the  light  and 
rapid  movements  of  their  armies,  and  was  thus  dis- 
used during  the  period  of  their  supremacy,  though 
again  employed,  after  Parthia  had  fallen,  by  the  Sas- 
sanidse.^ 

The  Parthians  entered  into  battle  with  much  noise 
and  shouting.'"^  They  made  no  use  of  trumpets  or 
horns,  but  employed  instead  the  kettledrum,  which 
resounded  from  all  parts  of  the  field  when  they  made 
their  onset.^  Their  attack  was  furious.  The  mailed 
horsemen  charged  at  speed,  and  often  drove  their  spears 
through  the  bodies  of  two  enemies  at  a  blow.^  The 
light  horse  and  tlie  foot,  when  any  was  present,  de- 
livered their  arrows  with  precision  and  witli  extra- 
ordinary force.  But  if  the  assailants  were  met  with  a 
stout  resistance,  the  first  vigour  of  the  attack  was  rarely 
long  maintained.  The  Parthian  Avarriors  grew  quickly 
weary  of  an  equal  contest,  and,  if  they  could  not  force 
their  enemy  to  give  way,  soon  changed  their  tactics. 
Pretending  panic,  dispersing,  and  beating  a  hasty  re- 
treat, they  endeavoured  to  induce  tlieir  foe  to  pursue 
hurriedly  and  in  disorder,  being  ready  at  any  moment 
to  turn  and  take  advantage  of  the  least  appearance 
of  confusion.  If  these  tactics  failed,  as  they  com- 
monly did  after  they  came  to  be  known,  the  simulated 
flight  was  generally  converted  into  a  real  one  ;  further 


'  Seo  Amm.  Marc.  xxv.  8,  fi,  &c. ; 
and  compare  Malcolm,  ITidory  of 
Perfiia^  vol.  i.  p.  170  ;  Ockley,  Iliatory 
of  the  Saracen H^  p.  14:5 ;  Ker  Porter, 
Travels,  vol.  ii.  PI.  Go  and  (i4. 


"  Plat.  Crass.  §  26  ;  TIerodian.  iv. 
30. 

^  Justin,  xli.  2  ;  Plut.  Crass.  §  23, 
suit  fin.  ;  Appian,  Parth.  p.  143. 

'   Plut.  Crass,  i  27. 


CH.  XXIII.]  PARTHIAISr    MODE    OF   PARLEY.  411 

conflict  was  avoided,  or  at  any  rate  deferred  to  another 
occasion.^ 

AVheii  the  Parthiaus  wished  to  parley  with  an  enemy, 
they  unstrung  their  bows,^  and  advancing  with  the 
ricjht  hand  outstretched,^  asked  for  a  conference. 
They  are  accused  by  the  Romans  of  sometimes  using 
treachery  on  such  occasions,  but,  except  in  the  single 
case  of  Crassus,  the  charge  of  bad  faith  cannot  be  sus- 
tained against  them.  On  solemn  occasions,  when  the 
intention  was  to  discuss  grounds  of  complaint  or  to 
bring  a  wtiv  to  an  end  by  the  arrangement  of  terms  of 
peace,  a  formal  meeting  was  arranged  between  their 
representatives  and  those  of  their  enemy,  generally  on 
neutral  ground,  as  on  an  island  in  the  Euphrates,  or  on 
a  brido^e  constructed  across  it.^  Here  the  chiefs  of  the 
respective  nations  met,  accompanied  by  an  equal 
number  of  guards,  while  the  remainder  of  their  forces 
occupied  the  opposite  banks  of  the  river.  Matters 
were  discussed  in  friendly  fashion,  the  Greek  language 
being  commonly  employed  as  the  vehicle  of  commu- 
nication ;  ^  after  which  festivities  usually  took  place, 
the  two  chiefs  mutually  entertaining  each  other,  or 
accepting  in  common  the  hospitalities  of  a  third  part}^^ 
The    terms    of  peace    agreed   upon    were    reduced  to 


*  Compare  Dio  Cass.  xl.  15  ;  Plut.  j      ^  Plut.    Crass.  §  30  ;  Anton.  §§  46 
Ant.    §§   29,    42,   45  ;  Herodian.  iv.  I  and  49. 
30.     Justin's  summary  expresses  a  j      '  Plutarch,  1.  s.  c. 
fair   judgment: — 'Pugnant  procur- i      *  Yell.     Paterc.    ii.   101;    Joseph, 
rentibus   equis,  aut  terga  dantibus;    Ant.  Jud.  xviii.  4,  §  5. 
ssepe     etiam     fugam     simulant,    ut  |      *  On    the  Partliian  knowledge  of 
incautiores    adversum    vulnera    in-    Greek,     see    Plut.    Cn/xs.   §  33.       I 
sequentes  habeant.     .     .     .  Nee  pug-    gather  from  Dio  and  Herodian  that 
nare     diu     possunt;    caeterum    in-    Greek  was  the  language  used  in  the 
tolerandi     forent,     si    quantus    his    diplomatic    intercourse   of    the  Par- 
impetus    est.    vis   tanta   et  perseve-    thians  and  Romans, 
rantia  esset'  (xl.  2).  j      ^  See  the  passages  cited  in  note  * 


412 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY, 


[CH.  XXII  [. 


writing ;  ^  hands  were  grasped  as  a  sign  that  faith  was 
pledged  ;  ^  and  oaths  having  been  interchanged,^  the 
conference  broke  up,  and  the  chiefs  returned  to  their 
respective  residences. 

Besides  negotiating  by  means  of  conferences,  the 
Parthian  monarchs  often  sent  out  to  neighbouring 
states,  and  in  return  received  from  them,  formal  em- 
bassies. The  ambassadors  in  every  case  conveyed,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  gifts  to  the  prince  to  whom  they 
were  accredited,'*  which  might  consist  of  articles  of 
value,  or  of  persons.  Augustus  included  an  Italian 
slave-girl  ^  among  the  pi'esents  which  he  transmitted 
to  Phi-aates  IV. ;  and  Artabanus  III.  sent  a  Jewish 
giant  to  Tiberius.^  The  object  of  an  embassy  was 
sometimes  simply  to  congratulate ;  but  more  often 
the  ambassadors  were  instructed  to  convey  certain 
demands,  or  proposals,  from  their  own  prince  to  the 
head  of  the  other  nation,  whereto  his  assent  was  re- 
quired, or  requested.  These  proposals  were  commonly 
formulated  in  a  letter  from  the  one  prince  to  the 
othei',''  which  it  was  the  chief  duty  of  the  ambassadors 
to  convey  safel}^  Free  powers  to  conclude  a  treaty  at 
their  discretion  were  rarely,  or  never,  entrusted  to 
them.  Their  task  was  merely  to  deliver  the  royal 
letter,  to  explain  its  terms,  if  they  were  ambiguous, 
and  to  carry  Imck  to  their  own  monarch  the  reply  of 
the  foreign  sovereign.     The  sanctity  of  the  ambassa- 


'  Plut.  Grass.  §  31.  A«>  i)l 
■yprhpanOai  raS  avi>Of/KaS.  Compare 
Ilerodian.  iv.  18  and  30. 

'  Hence  such  phrases  as  'reno- 
vari  dextras^  (Tac.  Ann.  ii.  58),  and 
the  like. 

^  Herodian.  iv.  30. 

*  Joseph.  Ant.  Jud.  xviii.  2,  §  4  ; 


4,  §  5  ;  Tacit.  ^1;;?!.  xv.  25  ;  Hero- 
dian. iv.  18. 

^  See  above,  p.  214. 

"  Josepli.  .1;/^  Jud.  xviii.  4,  §  5. 

'  On  these  letters,  see  Tacit.  Ann. 
XV.  24;  Dio  Cass.  Iv.  11;  Sueton. 
Tiber.  §  6G  ;  Ilerodian.  iv.  18,  19,  30, 
&c. 


CH.  XXIII.]  EMBASSIES    AXD    HOSTAGES.  413 

dorial  character  was  invariably  respected  by  the  Par- 
thians,  who  are  never  even  taxed  with  a  violation 
of  it. 

As  a  security  for  the  performance  of  engagements, 
or  for  the  permanent  maintenance  of  a  friendly  attitude, 
it  was  usual  in  the  East  during  the  Parthian  period  to 
require,  and  give,  hostages.  The  princes  who  occupied 
the  position  of  Parthian  feudatories  gave  hostages  to 
their  suzerain,  who  were  fi'equently  their  near  relations, 
as  sons  or  brothers.^  And  a  practice  grew  up  of  the 
Parthian  monarchs  themselves  depositing  their  own 
sons  or  brothers  with  the  Roman  Emperor,  at  first 
perhaps  merely  for  their  own  security,'  Vjut  afterwards 
as  pledges  for  their  good  behaviour.^  Such  hostages 
lived  at  the  expense  of  the  Koman  court,  and  were 
usually  treated  with  distinction.  In  the  event  of  a 
rupture  between  their  country  and  Rome,  they  had 
little  to  fear.  Rome  found  her  advantage  in  employ- 
ing; them  as  rivals  to  a  monarch  with  whom  she  had 
quarrelled,  and  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  punish 
them  for  his  treachery  or  inconstancy. 

The  magnificence  of  the  Parthian  court  is  celebrated 
in  general  terms  by  various  writers,  but  not  very  many 
particulars  liave  come  down  to  us  respecting  it.  We 
know  that  it  was  migratory,  moving  from  one  of  the  chief 
cities  of  the  empire  to  anotlier  at  different  seasons  of 
the  year,'*  and  that  owing  to  the  vast  number  of  the 
persons  composing  it,  there  was  a  difficulty  sometimes 
in  providing  for  their  subsistence  upon  the  road.^  'ihe 
court  comprised  the  usual  extensive  harem  of  an 
Oriental    prince,    consisting    of    a    single    recognised 


*  Joseph.  A7it.  Jud.  xx.  2,  §  3.       j      ^  Joseph,  xviii.  4.  §  5. 
'  Ibid,    xviii.   2,   s  4;  Tacit.  Ann.        *  See  above,  p.  92. 
ii.  1 ;  Strab.  xvi.  1,  §  28.  1      "  S'rab.  xi.  9,  §  1. 


414  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  XXHI 

queen,  ana  a  multitude  of  secondary  wives  or  con^ 
cubines.  The  legitimate  wife  of  the  prince  was  com- 
monly a  native,  and  in  most  cases  was  selected  from 
the  royal  race  of  the  Arsacid^e  ;  ^  but  sometimes  she 
was  the  daughter  of  a  dependent  monarch,^  and  she 
might  even  be  a  slave  raised  by  royal  fjivourfrom  that 
humble  position.^  The  concubines  were  frequently 
Greeks.^  Both  wives  and  concubines  remained  or- 
dinarily in  close  seclusion,  and  we  have  little  mention 
of  them  in  the  Parthian  annals.  But  in  one  instance 
at  any  rate,  a  queen,  brought  up  in  the  notions  of  the 
West,  succeeded  in  setting  Oriental  etiquette  at  de- 
fiance, took  the  direction  of  aff^lirs  out  of  the  hands  of 
her  husband,  and  subsequently  ruled  the  empire  in 
conjunction  with  her  son.^  Generally,  however,  the 
Parthian  kings  were  remarkably  free  from  the  weak- 
ness of  subservience  to  women,  and  managed  their 
kingdom  with  a  firm  hand,  without  allowing  either 
wives  or  ministers  to  obtain  any  undue  ascendency 
over  them.  In  particular,  we  many  note  that  they 
never,  so  far  as  appears,  fell  under  the  baleful  influence 
of  eunuchs,  who,  from  first  to  last,  play  a  very  subor- 
dinate part  in  the  Parthian  history.'' 

The  dress  of  the  monarch  was  commonly  the  loose 
Median  rol)e,  which  had  been  adopted  from  the  Medes 
by  the  Persians.  This  flowed  down  to  the  feet  in 
numerous  fokls,  enveloping  and  concealing  the  entire 


'  Herodian.  iv.  19. 
"  Slrab.  xi.  18,  §  1. 
'  Joseph.  Ant.  J  ml.  xvii.  3,  §  4. 
*  Plut.  (JmtiH.  §  82,  ad  fin. 
"  See  above,  p.  220. 
Philostratus  is,  so  far  as  I  know, 


the    only    writer   who  mentions  the    vinces  (ib.  i.  21 


employment  of  eunuchs  by  the  Par- 
thians.  Accordinji  to  him,  eunuchs 
occupied  tliat  position  in  the  royal 
harein  which  is  usual  in  the  East 
( Vlt.  ApoU.  i.  37),  and  lield  some- 
times the  office  of  satrap  in  the  pro- 


CH.  XXIII.]  DRESS    OF    THE    MONARCH. 


415 


figure.'  Trousers  and  a  tunic  were  probably  worn 
beneath  it,  the  latter  of  linen,  the  former  of  silk  or 
wool.  As  head-dress,  the  king  wore  either  the  mere 
diadem,  which  was  a  band  or  ribbon,  passed  once  or 
oftener  round  the  head,  and  terminatino;  in  two  Ions' 
ends  which  fell  down  behind,'  or  else  a  more  pre- 
tentious cap,  which  in  the  earlier  times  was  a  sort  of 
Scythian  pointed  helmet,'^  and  in  the  later  a  rounded 
tiara,  sometimes  adorned  Avith  pearls  or  gems.*  His 
neck  appears  to  have  been  generally  encircled  with  two 
or  three  collars  or  necklaces,  and  he  frequently  wore 
ear-rings  in  his  ears.  The  beard  was  almost  always 
cultivated,  and,  with  the  hair,  was  Avorn  variously. 
Generally  l)oth  hair  and  beard  were  carefully  curled  ; 
1)ut  sometimes  they  depended  in  long  straight  locks. 
Mostly  the  beard  was  pointed,  but  occasionally  it 
was  worn  square.  In  later  times  a  fashion  arose  of 
puffing  out  the  liair  at  either  side  extravagantly,  so 
as  to  give  it  the  appearance  of  a  large  bushy  wig.^ 

In  war  the  monarch  seems  to  have  exchanged  his 
Median  robe  for  a  short  cloak,  reaching  half  way 
down  the  thigh.^     His  head  was  protected  by  a  helmet, 


'  See  Justin,  xli.  2.  The  obverse 
of  Parthian  coins  frequently  exhi- 
bits the  monarch  thus  apparelled. 


Parthian  King,  from  a  coin. 

^  Compare  the  engravings  on  pp. 
230,  223,  228,  &c. 
^  Sec  above,  p.  91. 


*  See  the  woodcuts  on  pp.  91  and 
320. 

"  See  above,  p.  228. 

*  On  the  obverse  of  the  early 
Parthian  coins  the  monarch  is  usually 
represented  in  this  attire. 


Parthian  King,  from  an  early  coin. 


416 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.  XXIII. 


and  he  carried  the  national  arm  of  offence,  the  bow. 
He  usually  took  the  field  on  horseback,  but  was  some- 
times mounted  on  an  elephant,^  trained  to  encounter 
the  shock  of  battle.  Gold  and  silver  were  abundantly 
used  in  the  trappings  of  his  steed  and  in  his  arms. 
He  generally  took  the  command,  and  mingled  freely  in 
the  fight,  though  he  might  sometimes  shrink  without 
reproach  from  adventuring  his  own  person.^  His 
guards  fought  about  him  ;  and  he  was  accompanied 
by  attendants,  whose  duty  it  was  to  assist  him  in 
mountino;  on  horseback  and  dismounting^.^ 

The  status  of  the  queen  was  not  much  below  that  of 
her  royal  consort.  She  wore  a  tiara  far  more  elaborate 
than  his,  and,  like  him,  exhibited  the  diadem.  Her 
neck  was  encircled  with  several  necklaces.*  As  the 
title  of  Theos,  '  God,'  was  often  assumed  by  her  hus- 
band, so  she  was  allowed  the  title  of  'Goddess'  (Qso), 
or  'Heavenly  Goddess'  (Qed  ovpcxvla). 

Separate  apartments  were  of  course  assigned  to  the 
queen,  and  to  the  royal  concubines  in  the  various 
palaces.  These  were  buildings  on  a  magnificent  scale, 
and  adorned  with  the  utmost  richness.  Philostratus, 
who  wrote  in  Parthian  times,^  thus  describes  the  royal 
palace  at  Babylon.  '  The  palace  is  roofed  with  brass, 
and  a  bright  light  flashes  from  it.  It  has  chambers 
for  the  women,  and  chambers  for  the  men,  and  j)orti- 


§31. 


Supra,  p.  410. 
Plut.  Anton.  §  44. 
' Xvafioleli.       See    Plut. 


Crass. 


See  the  woodcut,  p.  220. 
*  Pliilostiatus  was  born  about  A. n. 
172,  an<l  lived  to  about  a.d.  244,  or 
a  little  later.  He  was  thus  contem- 
porary with  the  Parthinn  kinss  Vola- 
ga.ses  III.,  Vo!aga>es  IV.,  Volagases 


v.,  and  ArtabaiHis,  the  last  monarch. 
His  life  of  Apollonius  of  Tyana, 
which  contMins  the  description  given 
in  the  text,  as  well  as  other  curious 
information  about  I^arthia,  is  no 
doubt  !in  historical  romance;  but  its 
local  colouring  seems  intended  to  be 
correct,  and  is  probably  not  far  from 
the  truth. 


CII.  XXIII.]       POMP  AND  SPLENDOUR  OF  THE  KING.  417 

coes,  partly  glittering  witli  silver,  partly  with  clotli-of- 
gold  embi-oideries,  partly  with  solid  slabs  of  gold,  let 
into  the  walls,  like  pictures.  The  subjects  of  the 
embroideries  are  taken  from  the  Greek  mythology,  and 
include  representations  of  Andromeda,  of  Amymone, 
and  of  Orpheus,  who  is  frequently  repeated  .  .  .  . 
Datis  is  moreover  represented,  destroying  Naxos  with 
his  fleet,  and  Artaphernes  besieging  Eretria,  and  Xerxes 
gaining  his  famous  victories.  You  behold  the  occu- 
pation of  Athens,  and  the  battle  of  Thermopylae,  and 
other  points  still  more  characteristic  of  the  great 
Persian  war,  rivers  di'unk  up  and  disappearing  from 
the  face  of  the  earth,  and  a  bridge  stretched  across  the 
sea,  and  a  canal  cut  through  Athos  .  .  .  One  chamber 
for  the  men  has  a  roof  fashioned  into  a  vault  like  the 
heaven,  composed  entirely  of  sapphires,  which  are  the 
bluest  of  stones,  and  reseml)le  the  sky  in  colour. 
Golden  images  of  the  gods  whom  they  worship,  are 
set  up  about  the  vault,  and  show  like  stars  in  the 
firmament.  This  is  the  chamTjer  in  which  the  king 
delivers  his  judgments.  Four  golden  magic-wheels 
hang  from  its  roof,  and  threaten  the  monarch  with  the 
Divine  Nemesis,  if  he  exalts  himself  above  the  con- 
dition of  man.  These  wheels  are  called  "  the  tono-ues 
of  the  gods,"  and  are  set  in  their  j^laces  by  the  Magi 
who  frequent  the  palace.'  ^ 

The  state  and  pomp  which  surrounded  the  monarch 
seem  scarcely  to  have  fallen  short  of  the  Achjiemenian 
standard,  llesrarded  as  in  some  sort  divine  durino;  his 
life,  and  always  an  object  of  national  worship  after  his 
death,  the  'Brother  of  the  Sun  and  Moon '  ^  occupied 


'  Philostr.,     Vlt.    Apoll.    Tyan.  i.  ]      "^  Amm.  Marc,  xxiii.  6  ;  p.  397. 
25.  I- 


418 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH. 


XXIII. 


a  position  far  above  that  of  tlie  most  exalted  of  his 
subjects.  Tributary  monarchs  were  shocked,  when, 
in  times  of  misfortune,  the  'Great  King'  stooped  to 
solicit  their  aid,  and  appeared  before  them  in  the 
character  of  a  supj^liant,  shorn  of  his  customary 
splendour.^  Nobles  coveted  the  dignity  of  '  King's 
Friend,'  and  were  content  to  submit  to  blows  and 
buffets  at  the  caprice  of  their  royal  master,  before 
whom  they  prostrated  themselves  in  adoration  after 
each  castigation.^  The"  Parthian  monarch  dined  in 
solitary  grandeur,  extended  on  his  own  special  couch, 
and  eating  from  his  own  special  table,  which  was 
placed  at  a  greater  elevation  than  those  of  his  guests.^ 
His  ^  friend '  sat  on  the  ground  at  his  feet,  and  was  fed 
like  a  dog  by  scraps  from  his  master's  board.  Guards, 
ministers,  and  attendants  of  various  kinds  surrounded 
him,  and  were  ready  at  the  slightest  sign  to  do  his 
bidding.  Throughout  the  country  he  had  numerous 
'  Eyes  '  and  '  Ears  '  ■* — officers  who  watched  his  interests 
and  sent  him  word  of  whatever  touched  his  safety. 
The  bed  on  whick  the  monarch  sle2:)t  was  of  gold,  and 
subjects  were  forbidden  to  take  their  re^^ose  on  couches 
of  this  rich  material.^  No  stranger  could  obtain 
access  to  liim  unless  introduced  by  the  proper  officer; 
and  it  was  expected  that  all  who  asked  an  audience 
would  be  prepared  with  some  present  of  iiigh  value.^ 
For  the  gifts  received  the  monarch  made  a  suitable 
return,  allowing  those  whom  he  especially  favoured  to 
choose  the  presents  that  they  preferred.'' 


'  Seo  the  nnrrativo  in  Joseplms 
[Ant.  J  ad.  xx.  3,  §§1,  2) ;  and  com- 
pare above,  j).  240. 

''  Posidon.  ap.  Athen.  T)eijm.  iv. 
13;  p.  152,  F. 

="  Ibid.  p.  153,  A. 


*  Philostrat.    Vit.  Apoll.  Tyan.  \. 
21  and  28. 

'^  Joseph.  Ant.  Jud.  xx.  3,  §  8. 
"  Philostrat.   Vit.  Ajx  Tyan.  i.  28. 
'  Ibid.  i.  34. 


CII.  XXIII.]  POWER    OF    THE    MEGISTAIS^ES.  419 

Tlie  power  and  dignity  of  the  Partliiau  nobles  was 
greater  than  that  usually  enjoyed  by  any  subjects  of  an 
Oriental  king.  Rank  in  Parthia  being  hereditary  and 
not  simply  official,  the  '  megistanes '  were  no  mere 
creatures  of  the  monarch,  but  a  class  which  stood 
upon  its  own  indefeasible  rights.  As  they  had  the 
privilege  of  electing  to  the  throne  upon  a  vacancy, 
and  even  tliat  of  deposing  a  duly  elected  monarch,^ 
the  king  could  not  but  stand  in  wholesome  awe  of 
them,  and  feel  compelled  to  treat  them  with  con- 
siderable respect  and  deference.  Moreover,  they  were 
not  witliout  a  material  force  calculated  to  give  powerful 
support  to  their  constitutional  privileges.  Each  stood 
at  the  head  of  a  body  of  retainers  accustomed  to  bear 
arms  and  to  serve  in  the  wars  of  the  Empire.  To- 
gether these  bodies  constituted  the  strength  of  the 
army  ;  and  though  the  royal  body-guard  might  perhaps 
have  been  capable  of  dealing  successfully  with  each 
grouj")  of  retainers  separately,  yet  such  an  esjyrit  de 
corps  was  sure  to  animate  the  nobles  generally,  that 
they  would  make  common  cause  in  case  one  of  their 
number  were  attacked,  and  would  support  him  against 
the  crown  with  the  zeal  inspired  by  self-interest.  Thus 
the  Parthian  noVjility  were  far  more  powerful  and 
independent  than  any  similar  class  under  the  Achse- 
menian,  Sassanian,  Modern  Persian,  or  Turkish  sover- 
eigns. They  exercised  a  real  control  over  the  monarch, 
and  had  a  voice  in  the  direction  of  the  Empire.  Like 
the  great  feudal  rassals  of  the  Middle  Ages,  they  from 
time  to  time  quarrelled  with  their  liege  lord,  and  dis- 
turbed the  tranquillity  of  the  kingdom  by  prolonged 
and  dangerous  civil  wars  ;  but  these  contentions  served 


See  above,  p.  86. 


420 


THE    SIXTH    MONAECHY. 


[CH.  xxiri. 


to  keep  alive  a  vigour,  a  life,  and  a  spirit  of  sturdy 
independence  very  unusual  in  the  East,  and  gave  a 
stubborn  strength  to  the  Parthian  monarchy,  in  which 
Oriental  governments  have  for  the  most  part  been 
wanting. 

There  were  probably  several  grades  of  rank  among 
the  nobles.  The  highest  dignity  in  the  kingdom,  next 
to  the  Crown,  was  that  of  Surena,  or  '  Field-Marshal ; ' 
and  this  position  was  hereditary  in  a  particular  family,^ 
which  can  have  stood  but  a  little  below  the  royal 
house  in  wealth  and  consequence.  The  head  of  this 
noble  house  is  stated  to  have  at  one  time  brought  into 
the  field  as  many  as  10,000  retainers  and  slaves,  of 
whom  a  thousand  were  heavy-armed.^  It  was  his 
right  to  place  the  diadem  on  the  king's  brow  at  his 
coronation.  The  other  nobles  lived  for  the  most  part 
on  their  domains,  but  took  the  field  at  the  head  of 
their  retainers  in  case  of  war,  and  in  peace  sometimes 
served  the  offices  of  satrap,  vizier,  or  royal  councillor. 
The  wealth  of  the  class  was  great ;  ^  its  members  were 
inclined  to  be  turbulent,  and,  like  the  barons  of  the 
European  kingdoms,  acted  as  a  constant  check  and 
counterpoise  to  the  royal  dignity. 

Next  to  war,  the  favourite  employment  of  the  king 
and  of  the  nobles  was  huntinc^.''  The  lion  continued  in 
the  wild  state  an  occupant  of  the  Mesopotamian  river- 
banks  and  marshes  ;  ^  and  in  other  parts  of  the  empire 


*  Plut.  Grass.  §  31.  Kara  yivoi 
filv  ovv  i^  opxtji  EKeKTTjTo  [iaoiTiel 
■yivo/iie.vcf)   HdfiOiov   tTTiTiOivai.  tu  (hddr/fxa 

TTpC)TOV. 

=  Ibid.  1.  s.  c. 

^  This  appears  especially  in  the 
case  of  the  officer  employed  a<^aiiist 
Crassus,  who  was  attended  in  the 
field   by  200  litters  containing  his 


wives  and  concubines.  In  a  less 
degree,  it  appears  also  in  the  case  of 
the  Mithridatcs  attacked  by  Anilai. 
(See  above,  p.  242.) 

"  See  Philostr.  Vit.  Ap.  Tynn.  i. 
22  and  38 ;  Joseph.  Ant.  Jiid.  xviii. 
2,  §  4;  Justin,  xli.  5;  Suet.  Caii 
Vit.  §  5. 

"  Philostr.  i.  22. 


cir.  xxm.]      DKESS  of  the  upper  classes.  421 

l^ears,  leopards,  and  even  tigers  abounded.^  Tlius  the 
higher  kinds  of  sport  were  readily  obtainable.  The 
ordinary  practice,  however,  of  the  monarch  and  his 
courtiers  seems  to  have  fallen  short  of  the  true  sports- 
man's ideal.  Instead  of  seeking  the  more  dangerous 
kinds  of  wild  beasts  in  their  native  haunts,  and  en- 
gaging W'ith  them  under  the  conditions  designed  by 
nature,  the  Parthians  were  generally  content  with  a 
poorer  and  tamer  method.  They  kept  lions,  leopards, 
and  bears  in  enclosed  parks,  or  '  paradises,'  and  found 
pleasure  in  the  pursuit  and  slaughter  of  these  de- 
naturalised and  half-domesticated  animals.^  The  em- 
ployment may  still,  even  under  these  circumstances, 
have  contained  an  element  of  danger  which  rendered 
it  exciting ;  but  it  was  a  poor  substitute  for  the  true 
sport  which  the  '  mighty  Hunter  before  the  Lord '  ^ 
had  first  practised  in  these  regions. 

The  ordinary  dress  of  the  Parthian  noble  was  a 
long  loose  robe  reaching  to  tlie  feet,^  under  which  he 
wore  a  vest  and  trousers.^  Bright  and  varied  colours 
were  affected,  and  sometimes  dresses  were  interwoven 
or  embi'oidered  with  gold.^  In  seasons  of  festivity 
garlands  of  fresh  flowers  were  worn  upon  the  head.'' 
A  long  knife  or  dagger  was  carried  at  all  times,^ 
which  might  be  used  either  as  an  implement  or  as  a 
weajjon. 


*  The    tiger  haf?   always  been   a  j      '  Gen.  x.  0. 
native  of  Hyrcania  and  the  low  tract        *  Justin,  xli.  ii.   '  Vestis  perlucida 
south  of  the  Caspian.     Bears  have    et  fluida.'     Cf  Herodian.  iv.  20. 


always  inhabited  Mount  Zagros, 
while  leopards  abound  in  Mesopo- 
tamia. 

^  Philostr.    i.    38.     Q/ipia   (3£(iaaa. 
VLOfiiva  Kill  napd  TtjV  cpvaw  rijv  eavTUv 


^  Lucian.  Be  coKscrib.  hist.  §  19. 
^  Herodian.  1.  s  c. 
'  Ibid. 

'  Joseph.  Ant.  Jiul.  xvm.  2,  §  4 
Maxiiipofopeii)  eOoi  unaaii'. 


422  THE    SIXTH    MONAECIir.  [CH.  XXIII. 

In  the  earlier  period  of  the  empire  the  Parthian  was 
noted  as  a  spare  liver  ;  ^  but,  as  time  went  on,  he  aped 
the  vices  of  more  civilised  peoples,  and  became  an  in- 
discriminate eater  ^  and  a  hard  drinker.^  Game  formed 
a  main  portion  of  his  diet ;  ^  but  he  occasionally  indulged 
in  pork,^  and  proljably  in  other  sorts  of  butcher's  meat. 
He  ate  leavened  bread  with  his  meat,  and  various  kinds 
of  vegetables,^  The  bread,  which  was  ^particularly  light 
and  porous,  seems  to  have  been  imported  sometimes  by 
the  Romans,  "who  knew  it  as  panis  aquaticus  or  pa/ms 
Parthicus?  Dates  were  also  consumed  largely  by  the 
Parthians,^  and  in  some  parts  of  the  country  grew  to 
an  extraordinary  size.  A  kind  of  wine  was  made  from 
them ;  and  this  seems  to  have  been  the  intoxicating 
drink  in  which  the  nation  generally  indulged  too 
freely.^  That  made  from  the  dates  of  Babylon  was  the 
most  highly  esteemed,  and  was  reserved  for  the  use  of 
the  king  and  the  higher  order  of  satraps.^" 

Of  the  Parthian  feasts,  music  was  commonly  an  ac- 
companiment. The  flute,  the  pipe,  the  drum,  and  the 
instrument  called  samhura,  appear  to  have  been  known 
to  them  ;  ^'  and  they  understood  how  to  combine  these 
instruments  in  concerted  harmony.     They  are  said  to 


'  Jus?tin,   xli.   3,  ad  fin.      '  In  cibo   but  we  must  correct  hnii  as  to  the 


parous. 

^  l*liny,  //.  K  xi.  53. 

^  Ibid.  xiv.  22.  According  to 
Pliny,  the  Partliians  of  his  time  (a.d. 
50-70j  ale  and  drank  so  immoder- 
ately as  to  render  their  l)reath  un- 
pleasant. To  remedy  this  defect, 
the  nobles  were  in  the  habit  of 
munching  the  pips  of  citrons  (//.  N. 
xi.  53  ;  xii.  3). 

■'  Justin  says—'  Came  non  nisi  ve- 
natibus  quic~iti  vescuntur '  (1.  s.  c.)  ; 


later  period  of  the  Empire  from  Phi- 
lostratus  (  Vit.  Ap.  Tyan.  i.  21). 

'"  Philostr.  1.  s.  c. 

"  Ibid. 

'  Plin.  //.  N.  xviii.  11. 

'  Philostr.  1.  s.  c. 

*  Compare  PUn.  //.  N.  xiv.  16  with 
Philostr.  Vit.  Ap.  T'ynn.  i.  21 ;  p. 
27. 

'"  Philostr.  1.  s.  c. 

'■  Herodian.  iv.  20  ;  Athen.  Deipn. 
xiv.  8. 


CII.  XXIII.]         DEGREE  OF  PARTHIAX   KEFIXEMEXT. 


423 


have  closed  their  feasts  with  daiicino^ — an  amusement 
of  which  they  were  inordinately  fond  ^ — Ijut  this  was 
probably  the  case  only  \vith  the  low^er  class  of  j^eople. 
Dancing  in  the  East,  if  not  associated  with  religion,  is 
viewed  as  degrading,  and,  except  as  a  religious  exer- 
cise, is  not  indulged  in  by  respectable  jDersons. 

The  separation  of  the  sexes  was  very  decided  in 
Parthia.  The  women  took  their  meals,  and  passed  the 
greater  portion  of  their  life,  apart  from  the  men.^ 
Veils  were  commonly  worn,  as  in  modern  Mohammedan 
countries  ;  and  it  ^vas  regarded  as  essential  to  female 
delicacv  that  women,  whether  married  or  sino-le,  should 
convei'se  freely  with  no  males  but  either  their  near 
relations  or  eunuchs.  Adultery  was  punished  with 
great  severity  ;  ^  but  divorce  was  not  difficult,  and 
women  of  rank  released  themselves  from  the  nuptial 
bond  on  light  grounds  of  complaint,  without  much 
trouble.^  Polygamy  was  the  established  law ;  and 
every  Parthian  was  entitled,  besides  his  chief  wife,  to 
maintain  as  many  concubines  as  he  thought  desirable." 
Some  of  the  nobles  supported  an  excessive  number  :^ 
but  the  expenses  of  the  seraglio  prevented  the  gene- 
rality from  taking  much  advantage  of  the  indulgence 
which  the  law  permitted. 

The  degree  of  refinement  and  civilisation  which  the 
Parthians  reached  is  difficult  to  determine  with  accu- 
racy. In  mimetic  art  their  remains  certainly  do  not 
show  much  taste  or  sense  of  beauty.'^      There  is  some 


'  Philostr.  1.  s.  c. 

*  Justin,  xli.  3.  '  Feminis  non 
convivia  tantum  virorum.  verum 
etiam  conspectuui  interdicunt.'  . 

'  Justin,  1.  s.  c.  '  Nee  ulla  delicta 
adulteiio  giavius  vindicant.' 


*  See  the  story  told  by  Josephus, 
Ant.  Jad.  \v\\\.  I),  ?  G. 

^  Justin,  xli.  ;i  ad  init.      '  Uxores 
.     .  sino;uli  plures  habent.' 
«  Plut.   Crass.  §21. 
'  See  above,  p.  396. 


424  THE    SIXTH    MONAECHY.  [CH.  XXIII. 

ground  to  believe  that  their  architecture  had  merit ; 
but  the  existing  monuments  can  scarcely  be  taken  as 
representations  of  pure  Parthian  work,  and  may  have 
owed  their  excellence  (in  some  measure,  at  any  rate) 
to  foreign  influence.  Still,  the  following  particulars,  for 
which  there  is  good  evidence,  seem  to  imply  that  the 
nation  had  risen  in  reality  far  above  that  '  barbarism ' 
which  it  was  the  fashion  of  the  Greek  and  Roman 
writers  to  ascribe  to  it.  In  the  first  place,  the  Parthians 
had  a  considerable  knowledge  of  foreign  languages. 
Plutarch  tells  us  that  Orodes,  the  opponent  of  Crassus, 
was  acquainted  with  the  Greek  language  and  litera- 
ture, and  could  enjoy  the  representation  of  a  play  of 
Euripides.^  The  general  possession  of  such  knowledge, 
at  any  rate  by  the  kings  and  the  upper  classes,  seems 
to  be  implied  by  the  use  of  the  Greek  letters  and 
language  in  tlie  legends  upon  coins  and  in  inscriptions. 
Other  lano'uao;es  were  also  to  some  extent  cultivated. 
The  later  kings  almost  invariably  placed  a  Semitic 
legend  upon  their  coins ;  and  there  is  one  instance  of  a 
Parthian  prince  adopting  an  Arian  legend  of  the  type 
known  as  Bacti'ian.'-^  Josephus,  moreover,  regarded 
the  Parthians  as  familiar  wMth  Hebrew,  or  Syro- 
Chaldaic,  and  wrote  his  history  of  the  Jewish  War  in 
his  own  native  tongue,  before  he  put  out  his  Greek 
version,  for  the  benefit  especially  of  the  Parthians, 
among  wliom  lie  declares  that  he  had  many  readers.^ 

Though  the  Parthians  had,  so  fiiv  as  we  can  tell,  no 
native  literature,  yet  writing  was  familiar  to  them,  and 
was  widely  used  in  mattei's  of  business.     Not  only  were 


'  Plut.   Grass.  §  32. 

^  See  Num.  Chrcm.  vi.  p.  104  ; 
Lind^;iy,  History  and  Coi/iage,  &c., 
p.  208  ;  and,  for  the  Bactrian  writ- 


ing, compare  Wilson,  Ariana  Anti- 

qua,  plates. 

-    =■  Bell.  Jud.  Proem.  §  1  and  §  2. 


CH.  XXIII.]  PARTHIAN   COMMERCE.  425 

negotiations  carried  on  with  foreign  2:)owers  by  means 
of  despatches/  but  the  affairs  of  the  empire  generally 
were  conducted  by  writing.  A  custom-house  system 
was  established  along  the  frontier,  and  all  commodities 
liable  to  duty  that  entered  the  country  were  registered 
in  a  book  ^  at  the  time  of  entry  by  the  custom-house 
officer.  In  the  great  cities  where  the  Court  passed  a 
portion  of  the  year,  account  was  kept  of  the  arrival  of 
strangers,  whose  names  and  descriptions  were  placed 
upon  record  by  the  keepers  of  the  gates;^  The  orders 
of  the  Crown  were  signified  in  writing  to  the  satraps ;  ** 
and  they  doubtless  corresponded  with  the  Court  in  the 
same  way.  In  the  earlier  times  the  writing  material 
commonly  used  was  linen ;  but  shortly  before  the  time 
of  Pliny,  the  Parthians  began  to  make  paper  from  the 
papyrus,  which  grew  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Babylon, 
though  they  still  employed  in  preference  the  old 
material.^ 

There  was  a  considerable  trade  between  Parthia  and 
Rome,  carried  on  by  ni«ans  of  a  class  of  merchants.^ 
Partliia  imported  from  Rome  various  metals,  and 
numerous  manufactured  articles  of  a  hic^h  class.  Her 
principal  exports  were  textile  fabrics  and  spices.'  The 
textile  fabrics  seem  to  have  been  produced  chiefly  in 
Babylonia,  and  to  have  consisted  of  silks,  carpets,  and 


*  See  above,  p.  412. 
'  Philostr.   Vit.  Ap.  Ti/nn.  i.  20. 
'  Ibid.  i.  27,  ad  fin.     'Hpero  dvoiid 

re  auTov,  kuI  5  ri  eTrirriSevuv,  nat  o  rt 
(poiTuv ;  Kal  aiToypaTpanEVoi  ravra  ks 
-jpafiuarelov,  aTii/.ijv  re  cvrov  koI  elSoi, 
iKcivov  fxfv  ■nEpi/tFivai  KE?-evei. 

*  Herodian.  iii.  1.     'O  (^t  UapOvaloi 
e  TT I  rj  T  e^.  El  V      t<t>r]     ro'ti      aaTp<i-:Tai<^.  ^ 
Herodian    uses    kTnnTE'k7.Eiv    in    the        "  Ibid, 
sense  of  kTnaTo/.aS  tve/itzelv  constant-  [ 


ly.  Compare  iv.  18.  £Triarf?J.£t  tui 
jiarsiTiEl  Hap'^Jvai otf  .  .  .  ,  ui  de  ypa/i- 
fiara  eAeytv.  iv  21.  £TnaTE?^A.u  r^ 
avyK/.?JT(,).  V.  1.  e-iaTsTjEL  tCi  re 
Srjfia  'Puuniov  Kal  r^  avyKXfjTiJ  .  .  . 
avayvuOeicfTii  6k  rrjS  Toiavrjii  kizic- 
Toh'/: . 

'  Plin.  ff.  y.  xiii.  11,  ad  fin. 

^  Herodian.  iv.  18.    ^l  i/i-6puv. 


426 


THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY. 


[CH.  xxiir. 


coverlets.^  The  silks  were  largely  used  by  the  Roman 
ladies.^  The  coverlets,  which  were  patterned  with 
various  colours,  fetched  enormous  prices,  and  were 
regarded  as  fit  adornments  of  the  Imperial  palace.^ 
Among  the  spices  exported,  the  most  celebrated  were 
l^tdellium,  and  the  juncus  odoratus  or  odoriferous 
buli'ush.^ 

The  Parthians  had  many  liberal  usages  which  imply 
a  fairly  advanced  civilisation.  Their  tolerance  of 
varieties  in  religion  has  been  already  mentioned.^ 
Even  in  political  matters  they  seem  to  hav^e  been  free 
from  the  narrowness  which  generally  characterises 
barbarous  nations.  They  l^ehaved  well  to  prisoners,'' 
admitted  foreigners  freely  to  offices  of  high  trust,^  gave 
an  asylum  to  refugees,  and  treated  them  with  respect 
and  kindness,^  were  scrupulous  observers  of  their  pledged 
word,^  and  eiiiinently  faithful  to  their  treaty  obliga- 
tions.^°  On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
they  had  some  customs  which  indicate  a  tinge  of  bar- 
barism.      They    used    torture    for   the    extraction    of 


'  Compare  Plin.  II.  N.  viii.  48  ;  xi. 
22,  23:  and  Aihen.  Deipn.  v.  p.  197. 
Strabo's  statement  tliat  Borsippa  was 
in  his  clay  'a  great  staple  of  the 
linen  trade'  ('^n'ovyEiov  ufya  xvi.  i. 
§  7)  is  also  an  indication  that  manu- 
factures flourished  und?r  the  Par- 
thians. 

^  Plin.  n.  N.  xi.  23.  The  use  of 
silk  in  Parthia  is  noted  as  early  as 
B.C.  .54,  when  the  flag's  attached  to 
tlieir  standards  are  said  to  have  been 
madj  of  it  (Floras,  iii.  11). 

"  Plin.  //.  N.  viii.  48. 

'   ibid.  xii.  9  ;  xxi.  18. 

'  Supra,  p.  400. 

"  Euseb.  Chron.  Can.  1.40,  §  18, 
ad  fin. 

'  Note,  as  instmces,  the  employ- 
ment of  Labienus  in  hi:rh  command 


(supra,  p.  187)  and  the  satrapial 
dignity  of  the  Jews,  A.sinai  and 
Anilai  (Joseph.  Ant.  Jud.  xviii.  9, 
§§  4.-7). 

*  Dio  Cass,  xlviii.  24 ;  Joseph. 
Bell.  Jud.  vii.  7,  §  2. 

°  Joseph.  Ant.  Jud.  xviii.  9,  §  3. 
Ov  yiio  uv  feianiTo  rii  de^iuv  vk'  avrov 
Joffew?  ytvuiih'TjC. 

'"  The  opposite  statement  of  Jus- 
tin ('  Fides  diet  is  promissisque  nulla 
ni.si  qnatenus  expedit,'  xli.  3,  ad  tin.), 
and  the  sneer  of  Horace  (' Partliis 
meudacior,'  Ep.  I.  ii.  112)  are  con- 
tradicted l»y  the  whole  tenor  of  Par- 
thian history,  and  must  be  considered 
as  merely  parallel  to  the  cliarges  of 
'  Punic  perhdy,'  alleged  by  Livy  and 
others. 


CH.  XXIII.]  THE   PAKTIIIANS    LIKE    THE   TURKS. 


4.21 


answers  from  reluctant  persons/  employed  the  scourge 
to  punisli  trifling  offences,^  and,  in  certain  cases,  con- 
descended to  mutilate  the  bodies  of  their  dead  ene- 
mies.^ Their  addiction  to  intemperance  is  also  a 
barbaric  trait.  They  were,  no  doubt,  on  the  whole, 
less  civilised  than  either  the  Greeks  or  Eomans ;  but 
the  diff(;rence  does  not  seem  to  have  been  so  great  as 
represented  by  the  classical  writers. 

Speaking  broadly,  the  position  that  they  occupied 
was  somewhat  similar  to  that  whicli  the  Turks  hold  in 
the  system  of  modern  Europe.  They  had  a  military 
strength  which  caused  them  to  be  feared  and  respected, 
a  vigour  of  administration^  which  was  felt  to  imply 
many  sterling  qualities.  A  certain  coarseness  and 
rudeness  attached  to  them  which  they  found  it  impos- 
sible to  shake  oflT;  and  this  drawback  was  exaggerated 
by  their  rivals  into  an  indication  of  irreclaimable  bar- 
barity. Except  in  respect  of  their  military  prowess,  it 
may  be  doubtful  if  justice  is  done  them  l)y  any  classical 
writer.  They  were  not  merely  the  sole  rival  which 
dared  to  stand  wp  against  Rome  in  the  interval  between 
B.C.  65  and  a.d.  226,  but  they  were  a  rival  falling  in 
many  respects  very  little  below  the  great  power  whose 
glories  have  thrown  them  so  much  into  the  shade. 
They  maintained  from  first  to  last  a  freedom  unknown 
to  later  Rome ;  they  excelled  the  Romans  in  toleration 
and  in  liberal  treatment  of  foreigners,  they  equalled 
them  in  manufactures  and  in  material  prosperity,  and 
they  fell  but   little   short  of  them  in  the  extent  and 


'  Pliilostr.  Vif.  Ap.  Trjan.  i.  21. 

-  Posid.  ap.  Alhen.  Beipn.  iv.  13  ; 

152,  F. 

'  Plut.  Crass.  §  31. 

*  Compare  the  remarks  of  Strabo 


— aiTioS  d'  6  ^ioi  avTuv  koi  rd,  IBtj  tiI 
exovTU  TToTiv  iilv  rd  j3df>^apov  koX  to  "Lkv- 
BiKov,  ttXeov  fiEVT  o  l  to  XPV'^^' 
Hov  IT  phi  Tjy  e  iioviav  .     xi.   9,  §2. 


428  THE  SIXTH  ]\ro:N^AKCTTY.  [cir.  xxiii. 

productiveness  of  their  dominions.  They  were  the  se- 
cond power  in  the  world  for  nearly  three  centuries,  and 
formed  a  countei'poise  to  Eome  which  greatly  checked 
Roman  decline,  and,  by  forcing  tlie  Empire  to  exert 
itself,  prevented  stagnation  and  corruption. 

It  must,  however,  be  confessed,  that  the  tendency  of 
tlie  Parthians  was  to  degenerate.  Although  the  final 
blow  was  sti  uck  in  an  unexpected  quarter,  and  perhaps 
surprised  the  victors  as  much  as  the  vanquished,  still  it 
is  apparent  that  for  a  considerable  space  before  the 
revolt  of  Artaxerxes  the  Parthian  Empire  had  shown 
signs  of  failing  strength,  and  had  tended  rapidly  towards 
decay  and  ruin.  The  constant  quarrels  among  the 
Arsacidae  and  the  incipient  disintegration  of  the  Empire 
have  been  noticed.-^  It  may  be  added  here  that  a 
growing  barbarism,  a  decline  in  art  and  letters  is  ob- 
servable in  the  Partliian  remains,  such  as  have  usually 
been  found  to  accompany  the  decrepitude  of  a  nation. 
The  coinaQ:e  has  from  first  to  last  a  somewhat  rude 
character,  which  indicates  tbat  it  is  native,  and  not  the 
production  of  Grreek  artists.^  But  on  the  earlier  coins 
the  type,  though  not  indicative  of  high  art,  is  respect- 
able, and  the  legends  are,  with  few  exceptions,^  per- 
fectly correct  and  classical.     Barbarism  first  creeps  in 


'  See  above,  pp.  308,  309. 

'  Eckhel  thoujfht  that  the  entire 
series  of  tc'radrachms  was  Greek 
and  not  Parthian,  I>einp;  (he  issue  of 
the  seini-indopondent  Greek  towns 
in  tlie  Paithinn  dominions  {Durfr. 
Nnm.  Vff.  vol.  iii.  pp.  Hi'.),  r,r}()).  M. 
Lenorrnant,  in  his  work  f»n  the  early 
Parthian  coins,  went  further,  and 
maintained  (p.  3)  tliat  all  tlie  pood 
coins  were  of  Greek  workmanship, 


and  only  the  barbarous  ones  native. 
But  the  best  authorities  seem  now 
convinced  that  (exceptina;  a  few 
tctradnichms  of  Mithridates  I.  ;  see 
p.  09)  the  coins  aj-e  all,  in  the  strictest 
sense,   P.irthian. 

»  E.o;.  Aril'I'AINOYS  api)ears  for 
Eni<l'ANOTS  on  a  coin  ascribed  to 
Mithridates  I.  (Lindsay,  p.  166); 
riAKOPT  for  nzXKOPOY  on  coins  of 
Orodesl.  (i').  p.  170),  &c. 


en.  XXIir.]       DECLINE    OF    PARTHIAN    CIVILISATIOlSr. 


429 


about  tlie  reign  of  Gotarzes,^  a.d.  42-51.  It  increases 
as  time  goes  on,  until,  from  about  a.d.  133,  the  Greek 
legend  upon  tlie  coins  becomes  indistinct  and  finally 
unintellio;ible,  the  letters  l)eino:  strewn  about  the  surface 
of  the  coin,  like  dead  soldiers  over  a  field  of  battle.  It 
is  clear  that  the  later  directors  of  the  mint  were  com- 
pletely ignorant  of  Greek,  and  merely  attempted  to 
reproduce  on  the  coin  some  semblance  of  a  language 
which  neither  they  nor  their  countrymen  understood. 
Such  a  condition  of  a  coinage  is  almost  without  parallel, 
and  indicates  a  want  of  truth  and  honesty  in  the  conduct 
of  affairs  which  implies  deep-seated  corruption.  The 
Parthians  must  have  lost  the  knowled2:e  of  Greek  about 
a.d.  130,  yet  still  a  pretence  of  using  the  language  was 
kept  up.  On  the  tetradrachms — comparatively  rare 
coins — no  important  mistake  Avas  committed ;  but  on 
the  more  usual  drachm,  from  the  time  of  Gotarzes,  the 
most  absurd  errors  were  introduced,  and  thenceforth 
perpetu;ited.^  The  old  inscription  was,  in  a  certain 
sense,  imitated,  but  every  word  of  it  ceased  to  be 
legible  :  the  old  figures  disappeared  in  an  indistinct 
haze,  and — if  we  except  the  head  and  name  of  the  king 
(written  now  in  a  Semitic  character) — the  whole  embla- 
zonment of  the  coin  became  unmeaning.  A  degeneracy 
less  marked,  but  still  sufficiently  clear  to  the  numis- 


•  The  famous  legend  of  Gotarzes, 
which  should  have  run  (as  is  sup- 
posed) ri2TEPZH2  BASIAEYS  BA- 
SIAECN  AP2AKH2  YI02  KE- 
KAHMEXOS  APTABANOY  appears 
under  the  form  of  ri2TEPRH2  BA- 
2IAE  .  .  BA2IAE£2N  AP2AKOY 
YOS  KEKAAYSNOS  APTABANOY 
(Lindsay,  p.  153). 

*  Among  these,  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  is  the  corruption  of  the 


family  title  APZAKOY  (Arsaces) 
into  a  form  which  is  eitlier  actually 
or  nearly  APIANOY  a  geographical 
or  ethnic  appellative.  Other  errors 
merely  orthographic,  are  the  sub- 
stitution of  X  for  K  in  AIKaIOY, 
which,  from  the  time  of  Pliiaates 
IV.,  is  almost  uniformlv  written 
AIXAIOY;  of  X  for  X  in  *IaEAAH- 
NOS,  which  is  often  written  4>IAEA- 
AHX02,  and  the  like. 


430  THE    SIXTH    MONARCHY.  [CH.  XXIII. 

matic  critic,  is  observable  in  the  Leads  of  the  kings, 
which,  in  the  earlier  times,  if  a  little  coarse,  are  striking 
and  characteristic ;  while  in  the  later  they  sink  to  a 
conventional  type,  rudely  and  poorly  rendered,  and  so 
uniform  that  the  power  of  distinguishing  one  sovei-eign 
from  another  rests  no  longer  upon  feature,  but  upon 
mere  differences  in  the  arrangement  of  hair,  or  beard, 
or  head-dress. 


LIST  OF  AUTHORS  AND  EDITIONS 


QUOTED  IN    THE   NOTES. 


tElianus,   De    Natura    Animalium, 

ed.  Jacobs,  Jena?,  1832. 
Agathias,  in  the  Corpus  Script.  Hist. 

Byzant.,ed.  Nieljuhr,Bonna?,  1828. 
AiNswoKTii,  Researches  in   Mesopo- 
tamia, London,  1840. 
Ammianus  M arcellinus,  ed.  Grono- 

vius,  Lugd.  Bat,  1693. 
Appianus,  Hi.st.  Rom.,    ed.  II.   Ste- 

phanus,  Parisiis,  1593. 
Arnold,  Dr.,  History  of  Rome,  2nd 

ed.,  London,  1840. 
Arri.vnu.s,  Exped.  Alex.,  ed.  Tauch- 

nitz,  Leipzig,  1829. 
— ,  Fragments    in     the     Fragmenta 

Hist.    Gr«corum,  vol.    iii.,  ed.    C. 

Miiller,  Parisiis,  1849. 
AssEMAN,     Bibliotheca      Orienta]i.s, 

Romte,  1719-1728. 
ATnEN-?':us,      Deipnosophistae,      ed. 

Schwiighajuser,  Argentorat.,1801- 

1807. 
AuKELius  Victor,  Hist.   Rom.   Bre- 

viarium,  ed.   Pitiscus,  Traject.  ad 

Rhen.,  1696. 

Bayer,   Historia    Edessena,    Petro- 

poli,  1734 
Behistun   Inscription,    ed.     H.     C. 

Rawlinson,  in   the  Journal  of  the 

Asiatic  Society,  vols,  x.,  xi.,  &c. 
Berosus,    in    the    Fragmenta    Hist. 

Graic,    vol.    ii.,   ed.    C.    Miiller, 

Parisiis,  1848. 
BoECKH,  Corpus  Inscriptionum  Grae- 

carum.Berolini,  1828-1843. 
BiRTON,    Ecclesiastical     History   of 

the  First  Three  Centuries,  Oxford, 

1831. 


C^SAR,  JuMus,  Commentarii,  ed.  Ou« 

dendorp,  Stutgardise,  1822. 
Capitolinus,  Julius,  in  the   Script. 

Ilist.    Augustae,     ed.    Joidan    et 

Eyssenhardt,  Berolini,  1864. 
CiiA.MPAGNY,  Les    Cesars    du    Troi- 

siSme  Si&cle,  Pari.s,  1865. 
CiiESNEY,     Euphrates      Expedition, 

London,  1850. 
Cicero,  ed.  Priestley,  London,  1819. 
Clinton,    Fasti    Hellenici,    Oxford, 

183(1-1841. 
— ,    Fasti    Romani,    Oxford,    1845- 

1850 
Ctesias,    ed.    C.     Miiller,    Parisiis, 

1844. 
CuRTius,  Q.,  Hist.  Alcxandri  Magni, 

cd.  Tauchnitz,  1829. 

Ue  Hell,  Travels  in  t!ie  Steppes  of 
the  Caspian  Sea  (Enjjl.  Tr.),  Lon- 
don, 1847. 

Dio  Cassius,  ed.  Fabricius,  Ham- 
burgi,  1750-1752. 

DioDORUs  Sjculu.s,  ed.  Dindorf,  Pa- 
risiis, 1843-1844. 

Dionysus  Periegktes,  ed.  H.  Ste- 
phanus,  Parisiis.  1577. 

Droyskn,  Gesohichie  des  Hellenis- 
mus,  Hamburg,  1843. 

EcKHEL,  Doctrina  Num.  Veterum, 
Vindobon.,  1792. 

Euripides,  ed.  Dindorf,  Oxoniis, 
1S32-1840. 

Eusebius,  Chronicorum  Canon,  ed. 
Mai,  Milano,  1818. 

— ,  Historia  Ecclesiastica,  ed.  Bur- 
ton, Oxonii,  1838. 


432 


LIST    OF    AUTHOES. 


EusEBius,  Pi'fpparatio,  ETangeHca,e(3. 
Gaisford,  Oxorui,  1843. 

EusTATHius,  Comment,  in  Dionys. 
Periig.,  ed.  H.  Stephanus,  Parisiis, 
1577. 

EuTROPius,  Brcviarium  Pli^t.  Roma- 
nia, ed.  Vei-heyk,  Lugduni  Batav., 
1762. 

Fergusson,  J.,  History  of  Architec- 
ture, London,  1865. 

Ferrier,  Gen.,  Caravan  Journeys, 
London,  1856. 

Flandin  et  CdSTE,  Voyage  en  Perse, 
Paris,  1845-1850. 

Florus,  Epitome  Rer.  Romanarum, 
ed.  iJukerus,' Lugduni  Batav.,  1744. 

Fraser,  Journey  into  Kliorasan, Lon- 
don, 1825. 

Francke,  GcscliiL-hte  Trajans,  Bero- 
lini,  1837. 

Frolich,  Annales  Rega.n  Syriye,  Vin- 
dobon.,  1754. 

Fronto,  ed.  Naber,  Lipsiae,  1867. 

Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Ro- 
man Empire,  ed.  W.  Smith,  Lon- 
don, 1854-1855. 

Grote,  History  of  Greece,  London, 
1862. 

Gruter,  Inscriptiones  antiquae  totius 
orbis  Romani,  ed.  Grsevius,  Am- 
steliedami,  1707. 

Hecat.eus,  Fragments  in  the  Frag- 

menta  Hist.  Gnecorum,  vol.  i.,  ed. 

C.  MiilkT,  Parisiis,  1841. 
Heerkn,  Manual  of  Ancient  History 

(Eng.  Tr.),  O.\ford,  1838. 
Heliodorus,  ^tliiopica,  ed.  Bourde 

lot,  LutctiiTJ  Paris.,  1619. 
Herodianus,  Historiarum  LiVjriocto, 

Oxoniie,  1691). 
Herodotus,  ed.  Biihr,  Lipsiye,  1856- 

1861. 
— ,  Enjrli.sh  Translation    of,   by  th^ 

Author,  2nd  edition,  London,  1862. 
Hesyciiius,  Lexicon,  ed.  Ali)ert, Lug- 
duni Batav.,  1746. 
HiEUONVMUS.  Opera,  ed.    Benedict., 

1693-1706. 
HiSToniA  MiscELLA,ed.  Eyssenhardt, 

Berolini,  1868. 


H1ST0RI.E  Augusts  Scriptores,  ed. 

Jordan    et  Eys.-enhardt,  Berolini, 

1864. 
HoRATius,  ed.  Doering,  Oxonii,  1838. 

Inscription  of  Darius  at  Behistun, 
ill  tlie  Author's  translation  of  He- 
rodotus, vol.  ii.,  ad  Jin. 

—  at  Nakhsh-i-Rustam,  in  the  same, 
vol.  iv.,  pp.  207-208. 

—  of  Tiglath-Pileser  L,  published  by 
the  Royal  Asiatic  Societv,  London, 
1857. 

Inscriptions  of  Darius  at  PersepolLs, 
published  in  the  Journal  of  the 
Asiatic  Society,  vol.  x. 

Inscriptiones  Gn^cte  (See  Boeckh). 

Inscriptiones  Romanae  {See  Gru- 
ter). 

IsiDORtJS  Characenus,  in  the  Geo- 
graphi  Minores,  (vol.  i.)  ed.  C.  Miil- 
ler,  Parisiis,  1855. 

Joannes  Malalas,  in  the  Corpus 
Scriptoium  Hist.  Byzant.,  ed.  Nie- 
buhr,  Bonna;,  1831. 

JosEPHUs,  Ojiera,  ed.  Tauchnitz,  Lip- 
siae,  1850. 

Journal  of  Asiatic  Societv,  Lon- 
don, 1846,  &c. 

Journal  of  Geographical  Society, 
London,  1840,  &c. 

Julianus  (Emperor), Opera,ed.  Span- 
heim,  Lipsite,  1696. 

Ker  Porter,  Sir  R..  Travels,  Lon- 
don, 1821-1822. 

KiNNEiR,  Persian  Empire,  London, 
1813. 

Lampridius,  iElius,  in  the  Historiae 
AugustiE  Scriptores  of  Jordan  and 
Eyssenhardt. 

Lardner,  Dr.,  Credibility  of  the  Gos- 
pel History,  London,  1815. 

Lasskn,  Indische  Aberthumskunde, 
Bonn,  1847. 

Layard.  Nineveh  and  Babylon,  Lon- 
don, 1853. 

Lenormant,  Ilistoire  Ancienne  de 
rOrient,  Pari<,  1869. 

Lewis,  History  of  the  Parthian  Em- 
pire, London,  1728. 


LIST  OF  AUTirons. 


433 


Lindsay,  History  and  Coinage  of  the 
Panhiuns,  Cork,  1852. 

LiviLS.  T.,  ed.  Twiss,  Oxonii, 
1840. 

Lorrus,  Chaldaea  and  Susiana,  Lon- 
don, 1S57. 

LrcANCs,  Opera,  ed.  Schrevelius, 
Lugduni  Batav.,  1G69. 

LuciANus,  Opera,  Biponti,  1789- 
1793. 

Malcolm,  Sir  J.,  History  of  Persia, 

London,  1815. 
Mautialis,  in  ihe  Corpus  Poetarum 

Latinoruni,  ed.  Walker,    Londini, 

1865. 
Memnon,  De  Rebus  Heracleae,  in  the 

Fragment  a  Hist.  Gr.  of  C.  Miiller, 

vol.  iii. 
Meuivale,  Dean,    Roman    Empire, 

London,  ISO."). 
MfciiAELis,  Introduction  (Eng.  Tr.), 

Cambridge.  179:^-1801. 
MiLMAN,  Dean,  History  of  the  Jews, 

London,  1829. 
MroxxKr,  Description    de    Medailles 

antiques,  Pari.s,  1806-1837. 
MoMMSEx,       Dr.,      Romische       Ge 

schiclite,  Berlin,  1856,  1857. 
Moses    Chokenexsis,    IJistoria    Ar- 

menite,    td.      Whistou,     Londini, 

17:^,6. 
MiiLLEii,    C,     Fragmenta     Histori- 

cnrum  Gryecoruni.  Parisiis,  1841- 

1870. 
— ,    Geographi      Minores,     Parisiis, 

1855-1861. 


NicolaUs  Damascexus,  in  the 
Fragm.  Hist.  Gr.  of  C.  Muller, 
vol.  iii. 

NrEBUHR,  B.  G.,  Lectures  on  An- 
cient Hi.story  (Eng.  Tr.),  London, 
1852. 

— ,  Lectures  on  Roman  History, 
(Eng.  Tr.),  London,  1849. 

Niebuhk,  C,  Voyage  en  Arabic, 
Amsterdam,  1780. 

Numismatic  Ciiroxicle,  First  Se- 
ries, London,  1839,  <kc. 

,  Second  Series,  London,  1861, 


OcKLEY,  History  of  the  Saracens,  ed. 

Bohn,  London,  1847. 
Ouosirs,  Paulus,  Historian,  Colonia?, 

1536. 
OviDics,  Opera,  ed.   Bipont.,  Argen- 

torati,  1807, 

Pausanias,  Opera,  ed.  Siebeli.-^,  Lip- 

sise,  ls22. 
Phii.o  JiD^us,  ed.  Hoeschel,  Franko- 

furti,  1691. 
PiiLEGox,   in    the   Fragmenta   Hist. 

Gnec.  of  C.  Muller,  vol.  iii. 
PiiiLosT.'iATi/S,  Yiui  Apollonii  Tyan., 

ed.  Olearius,  Lipsiae,  1709. 
PnoTius,  Bibliotheca,  ed.   Hceschel, 

Rhotomag.,   1653. 
Plixius,     Historia     Naturalis,     ed. 

Sillig,  Hamburgi  et  Gothse,  1851- 

1857. 
Plutakciiu.s,     Vitae     Parallel,     ed. 

Tauchnitz,  Lipsite,  1845. 
PococK,  Description  of  the  East,  Lon- 
don, 1743-1745. 
PoLYBius, Opera,  ed.  Scliwcighfeuserj 

Oxonii,  1822,  1823. 
PosiDOXius,  in  the  Fragmenta  Hist. 

Gri£c.  of  C.  Muller,  vol.  iii. 
Pkocopius,  in    the    Corpus    Script. 

Hist.  Byzant.  of  B.    G.    Niebnhr, 

BonnjE. 
Ptolemy,   Geographia,  ed.    Bertius, 

Amstelifidami,  1618. 


Rawlixsox,  G.,  Translation  of  He- 
rodotus, wiih  Notes,  2nd  edition, 
London,  1862. 

— ,  Ancient  Oriental  Monarchies, 
2nd  edition,  London,  1871. 

— ,  H.  C,  Cuneiform  Inscriptions 
of  Persia,  in  the  .Journal  of  the 
Royal  Asiatic  society,  London, 
1846-1849. 

Rittek,  C,  Erdkunde,  Berlin,  1847, 
&c. 

Rufixds,  Hist.  Eccles.,  Romae,  1741. 


Saltxstics,  Opera,  ed.  Gerlach, 
Basileae,  1823-1831. 

Samuel  Aniexsis,  in  Mai's  Chron- 
icle of  Eusebius.      (See  Eusebius.) 


43^ 


LIST    OF   AUTHOES. 


Sexeca,  Opera,  cd.   Gronovius,  Am-  I 

stela'datni,  1072. 
S.MiTii,  Dr.  W.,  Dictionary  of  Greek 

and    Roman    Biography,  London, 

18."50. 
-  -,  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman 

Geography,  London,  1854. 
•  -,   V^,    Ancient    History,    London, 

186.J. 
SocuATES,  Hist.  Eccles.,  Cambridge, 

>720. 
SozoMEN,    in    the    Historire    Eccles. 

Sciiptore.s,     ColonioB      Allobrog., 

1612. 
.SpAUTiANUS,    in    the   Historise    Au- 

guslae  Scriptoies  of   Jordan    and 

Eyssenhardr. 
SrEPHANUs  Byzantinus,  ed.  Berkel, 

Lugduni  Batav.,  1694. 
Stkaijo,  Oeographia,  ed.  Kramer,  Be- 

rolini,  1844-1852. 
SuEToriius,  ed.  Baumgarten  Krusius, 

Lipsii«,  1816. 
Suidas,  ed.  Gaisford,  Oxonii,  1834. 
SvNCELLUs,    Chronographia,    in    tlie 

Corpus   Higt.    Byzant.    of   B.    G. 

Niebuhr,  Boiinse,  1829. 


Tacitus,  ed.  "Walther,  Halis   Saxo- 

num,  1831. 
TiiEOPHKASTUs,    Hist-     Plant.,     ed. 

Stackhouse,  Oxonii,  7  813. 
Thiblwall,  History  of  Grc^'W'    (in 


Lardner's    Cabinet    Cyclopgedia), 

London,  1835,  &c. 
Thucydides,  ed.  Arnold,  3rd  edition, 

Oxford,  1847. 
Trogus  Pojipeius.     {See  Justin.) 

V  A  ILL  ant,     Historia    Arsacidarum, 

Parisiis,1725. 
Valerius  Maximus,  Lugduni  Batav., 

1670. 
Vamdery,  Travels  in  Central  Asia, 

London,  1864. 
Veli,eius    Patp:rculus,    Hist.    Ro- 

mana,  ed.  Tauchnitz,  l.ipsiae,  1828. 
ViRGiLius,  Opera,  ed.  Forbiger,  Lip- 

siiB,  1886-1839. 
VuLCATius  Gallus,  in  the  Historiae 

AugusttB  Scriptores  of  Jordan  and 

Eyssenhardt. 

Wilson,    H.    H.,   Ariana    Antiqua, 
London,  1841. 

Xenophon,  Opera,  ed.  Schneider  et 

Dindorf,  Oxonii,  1826 
XiPHiLiNUS,  Epitome  Dionis,  ed.  H. 

Stephanus,  Paiisiis,  1592. 

ZoNARAs,   in   the   Corpus    Historiae 
ByzDot.  of  B.  G.  Niebuhr,  Bonnae, 

1841-1844. 
ZosiMus,  in  the  same,  Bonnae,  1837. 


INDEX. 


ABD 

ABDAGESES,  21,  33,  334,  337 
Abdus.  21,  230 

Abgarus  I.,  king  of  Osrhogne,  re- 
ceive 1  into  alliance  by  Pompey, 
151  ;  brought  over  to  his  side  by 
Oiodes,  ib.;  pretends  to  help 
Crassus,  157;  services  which  he 
rendered  to  the  Parthians,  1G2- 
1(14 

Abgarus  11.,  king  of  Osrhoene,  em- 
braces professedly  the  cause  of 
Meherdates,  257 ;  advises  him  ill, 
ib. ;  deserts  him,  358 

Abgarus  III.,  295,  303,  307 

Abgarus  IV.,  king  of  Osrhoene,  sub- 
mits to  Severus,  339 ;  summoned 
to  Rome  by  Caracallus,  350  ;  de- 
prived of  his  dominions,  ib. 

Achaeus,  54 

Adenystrae,  310 

Adhem,  R.,  346 

Adiabene,  a  Parthian  kingdom,  87  ; 
position  and  extent  of,  140  ;  taken 
from  Partliia  by  Tigranes,  ib. ; 
recovered  by  Parthia,  145 ;  go- 
verned by  Izates,  246,  353 ;  in- 
vaded by  Meherdates,  257 ; 
threatened  by  Volagases  I.,  265  ; 
falls  under  the  government  of 
Wonobazus,  266  ;  attacked  by 
Tigranes  II.,  271  ;  attacked  by 
Trajan,  310  ;  made  a  Roman  pro- 
vince, 314  ;  relinquished  by  Ha- 
drian, 316  ;  people  of,  assist  re- 
volted Mesopotamians  against 
Rome,  336  ;  overrun  by  Severus, 

337  ;  recovered  b}' Volagases  IV., 

338  ;  reconquered  by  the  Romans, 
346  ;  traversed  by  Caracallus  on 
his  retreat,  356 

Adiabenicus,  a  title  assumed  by  Seve- 
rus. 337  n. 
Adriatic  Sea,  383  3 


Adule,  inscription  of,  47  n. 

Affghanistan  included  in  the  empire 
of  Alexander,  60  ;  partially  Hel- 
lenised,  ib.  ;  conquered  by  the 
Bactrians.  62,  115  ;  invaded  by 
Scyths,  118,  124 

Afranias.  145 

Agatliocles.  70  iu 

Ahriman,  398 

Ak-Su,  R.,  115 

Alabanda,  189 

Alani,  their  geographical  position, 
291  n.  ;  meaning  of  their  name,  ib. ; 
invade  Media,  391  ;  enter  Arme- 
nia. 393  ;  attack  Rome  and  Parthia, 
330  ;  2>eace  with  them  purchased 
by  the  Parthians,  331 

Alarodii,  136  (see  Urarda) 

Alatagh,  M.,  4,  6 

Albanians.  333,  306 

Albinus  {see  Clodius) 

Alchaudonius,  151-3 

Alexander  Balas,  81 

Alexander  the  Great,  empire  of,  29 ; 
'  successors'  of,  ib.  ;  system  of,  36  ; 
colonies  founded  by,  45,  88  ;  sub- 
mission of  Armenia  to,  139  ;  his 
expedition  against  the  Get^e,  117; 
Parthian  kings  considered  them- 
selves his  representatives.  329 

Alexander,  son  of  Pompey,  206-7 

Alexander,  a  prophet,  324 

Alexandria,  305,288 

Amanus,  M.,  105, 180, 190 

Amminapes,  31,  33 

Amyntas,  71  n. 

Anchialus,  king  of  Heniochi,  306 

Andragoras,  43 

Anilai,  341-244 

Annap,  meaning  of,  23 

Anthemusia,  307 

Anthcmusi.is.  152  /*. 

Antialcida.s,  71  n. 


436 


INDEX. 


ANT 

Antigonus  (Maced )  31.  32,  34 

Antigonus  of  Juclsea,  188-191 

Antiiuachus,  70  n. 

Antioch,  ill-suited  by  position  for 
the  capital  of  the  Seleucid  king- 
dom, 3") ;  taken  by  Ptolemy  Euer- 
getes,  47  ;  defended  against  the 
Parthians  by  Cassius,  179,  180  : 
submits  to  the  Parthians,  187  ; 
recovered  by  Rome,  190  ;  made 
his  head-quarters  by  Trajan,  302  ; 
who  winters  there  after  his  first 
Parthian  campaign,  308  ;  great 
earthquake  at,  308  ;  Verus  at, 
326  ;  Caracallus  at,  351 

Antiochus,a  Cynic  phi]osophrr,3")l  n. 

Antiochu  T.  of  Commagene,  friendly 
to  the  Parthian  prince  Pacoru:;, 
191  n.  ;  his  daughter  married  to 
Orodes,  195  n.  ;  murder  of  his 
grandson,  by  Phraate-;  IV.,  195, 
198  n. 

Antiochus  II.  of  Commaggne,  or- 
dered by  Rome  to  assist  Corbulo, 
2G7  ;  required  by  Corbulo  to  in- 
vade Armenia,  269  ;  given  a  por- 
tion of  Armenia,  270 

Antiochus  I.,  of  Syria,  37 

Antiochus  II.,  of  Syria,  38,41 

—  liierax,  48,  52 

Antiochus  the  Great,  of  Syria,  his 
war  with  Achaeus,  54  ;  his  domin- 
ions attacked  by  Artabanus  I.,  ib  ; 
his  great  Parthian  expedition,  55- 
57  ;  ho  consents  to  peace,  57  ;  his 
attack  on  Kactr'a,  58  ;  his  peace 
with  EiUh3'demus  ii)  n.  ;  he  quits 
the  East,  59  ;  his  oefeat  by  Rome 
at  Magnesia,  129  ;  A  rinen'a  revolts 
from  him,  ib. 

Antiochus  Epiphanes,  of  Syr'a,  suc- 
ceeds Seleucus  IV.,  71  ;  his  w-ar 
with  Ptolemy  V.,  ib.  ;  his  Jewish 
Avar,  72  ;  he  subjugates  Ariiienia- 
130 

Antiochus  V.  (Eupator).  73 

Antiochus  Sidetes,  of  Syria,  become?: 
king  on  the  capture  of  Demetrius  i 
Nicator  by  the  i'artliian.s,  07;  his 
war  with  Trvphon,  il».  ;  his  war 
with  the  Jews,  98  ;  his  greit 
Parthian  expedition,  98-104  ;  his  i 
dentil,  105 

Antoninus  Pius,   becomes   emparor. 


321  ;  refuses  to  restore  the  golden 
throne,  322  ;  deters  Volagases  III. 
from  war  by  a  letter,  323  ;  dies, 
324 

Antony,  Mark,  his  triumvirate,  186  ; 
his  passion  for  Cleopatra,  187  ;  his 
exactions,  ib. ;  his  lieutenant, 
Ventiilius,  defeats  the  Parthians, 
1^9  ;  Antony  jealous,  199  ;  his 
Parthian  expedition,  200-204  ;  its 
completo  failure,  205  ;  his  alliance 
with  AitavMsdes  of  Media,  and 
second  invasion  of  Armenia,  206  ; 
his  third  invasion  of  Armenia, 
207  ;  he  quits  the  East  for  his 
final  contest  with  Octavian,  ib. 

Apanuiea,  186,  187.  193 

Apameia,  152  v. 

Aparni,  17,  118 

Apavarctica,  53  n. 

Apavortene,  53  n. 

Aprtctppus,  22 

Arabs,  105  ;  Scenite,  158,  238  n. 

Arachosi.i,  33,  79 

Arachosians,  71 

Arakha.  128  n. 

Ararat,  M.,  126 

Araxes,  R,  separated  Armenia  from 
Media  Atropatene,  203  ;  crossed 
by  Antony  on  his  retreat,  204  ; 
again  crossed  by  .Antony,  207 

Arbfila,  the  Parthians  at,  28  ;  the 
Armenians  after,  129  ;  perhaps  th* 
scene  of  conflict  between  Gotarzes 
and  Weherdates,  258  n.  ;  royal 
tomlis  av,  destroyed  b}'  CaracalUi-, 
356 

Arheliiis,  140 

Archelaus,  king  of  Cippadocia,   270 

Architecture  of  the  Parthians,  371- 
384 

Ardashes,  130 

Arghistis,  king  of  Armenia,  126  n. 

Aria,  adjoined  Parthia  Proper  on  the 
east,  11  ;  united  wiih  Parthia  in 
the  inscriptions  of  Darius  Ilystas- 
pis.  15  ;  formed  apart  of  the  same 
satrapy,  27  ;  included  in  the  em- 
)iire  of  Seleucus,  33  ;  a  province  of 
the  Parthi!>n  empire  from  the  time 
of  Miihridites  I..  79 

Ariana,  1 1  T 

Aria'is,  conipviscd  in  tho  sixteenth 
sa(/'a[)y  of  Dariu.s,  li> ;  thc>ir  ethnic 


rNDEX. 


43: 


ART 

chiractcr,  21 ;  mention  of  them 
in  the  '  Zendavesta,'  22  ;  attacked 
by  the  Scythians,  117 

Ariobarzanes,  dj-iveu  out  of  Cappa- 
docia  by  Mithridates  of  Pontus, 
134  ;  re-estal)lished  by  Sulla,  ib. ; 
a  'puppet-king,'  142;  receives 
GordyCne  from  Pompey,  145  :  le- 
mains  faiihful  to  Rome,  179 

Aristobuliis,  son  of  Herod,  king  of 
Chalcis.  2()7  ».,  270 

Aristonicu?,  132 

Ariiis,  K.,  12,  69 

Armenia,  early  histor}'  of,  125-129  ; 
comprised  in  the  empire  of  Se- 
leucus,  32  ;  rich  in  horses,  33  ;  re- 
volts from  Antiochu-;  the  Greit, 
129  ;  reduced  by  Antiochus  Epi- 
phanes,  72;  again  revolts  and  be 
comes  independent,  130;  attacked 
by  Mithridates  II.,  131;  brings 
Rome  into  connection  with  Par- 
thia,134;  becomes  powerful  under 
Tif^ranes  [.,  140  ;  takes  ti-nirory 
from  Parthia,  ii).  ;  threatens  Sana- 
troeces,  141  ;  atta(>ked  by  Phraates 
III.,  143;  peace  madr,  147;  at-; 
tacked  by  Mithridates  III.,  lose-;: 
territor}',  ib. ;  in  alliance  with 
Crassus,  151,  155  ;  attacked  by 
Orodes,  15S  ;  peace  made,  174  ; 
becomes  dependent  on  Parthia, 
176  ;  enters  into  alliance  wit'i  An- 
tony,  198;  becomes  the  basis  of  ' 
Antony's  operations  against  Par-  I 
thia,  201 ;  deserts  him  in  his  diffi- 
culties, 202 ;  l)ut  shelters  his  army  j 
on  its  return,  204;  severely  pun  ■ 
ished  by  Antony,  206 ;  forms 
alliance  with  Parthia,  207  ;  falls 
again  under  Roman  influence, 
212  ;  takes  offence  at  its  treitment  ' 
bv  Rome,  and  be  omes  a  subject 
ally  of  P.ir.hia,  213  ;  again  sub- 
mits to  Home,  219;  takes  as  king 
the  Parthian  refugee,  Vonones, 
224  ;  e.Kpels  iiiin,  ib.  ;  claimed  by 
Artabanus  1 II.  for  ids  son,  Orodes, 
ib.  ;  settle  1  as  a  Roman  depend-' 
ency  by  Germanicus,  226  ;  sud- 
denly occupied  by  Artabauus,228  ; 
occupied  by  Pharasmaues  of  Iberia 
and  placed  under  his  brother, 
Mithiidatos,     232  ;      claimed     by 


ARS 
Vardanes  I.,  252  ;  traversed  by  the 
army  of  ^leherdates,  257;  seized 
by  Volagases  I.,  and  given  to  liis 
brother,  liridates,  264;  recovered 
by  Rhadamistus,  the  son  of  Pna- 
ra? manes,  ib.;  again  placed  under 
Tiiidates  by  Yolagascs,  266  ;  re- 
covered to  Rome  by  Corbulo,  270; 
invaded  once  more  by  Volaga- 
ses, 273  ;  evacuated  by  both  the 
Romans  and  the  Parthians.  ib.  ; 
reoccupied  by  Casennius  Ptetus, 
275  ;  again  recovered  by  Volagases, 
277;  finally  placed  under  Tiridates, 
witli  the  consent  of  Rome,  281- 
284  ;  invaded  by  the  Alani,  292  ; 
given  by  Pacorus  to  his  son,  Exe- 
dares,  299  ;  disputed  between  Tra- 
jan and  Chosroes,  301-304  ;  taken 
by  Trajan,  and  made  a  Roman 
province,  306;  relinquished  by 
Hadrian,  316;  placed  under  Par- 
thamaspates,  ib.:  solicited  by  Ni- 
ger. 338  ;  submits  to  Severus,  339  ; 
receives  a  king  from  Artabanus 
IV.,  367  ;  opposes  Artaxerxes  after 
Artabanus'  death,  ib. ;  defeats  him, 
but  is  in  (urn  forced  to  suljmit, 
ib. 

Armenia  Magna,  125,  129 

Armenia  Minor,  conquered  by  Mith- 
ridates of  Pontus,  133;  passes 
under  Tigranes  of  Armenia  .Mag- 
na, 140  ;  becomes  a  Roman  depend- 
ency,226;  a.ssignedto  Aristol-ulus, 
son  .  f  Herod  of  Chalcis,  267  ji. ; 
enlarged,  270 

Aims  of  Parthians,  161 

Arrian,  governor  of  Cappadocia,  32 1 

Arsaces,  a  name  assumed  by  all  the 
Pai  than  kings.  45 

Arsacis  I.,  of  Parthia,  different  ac- 
counts of  his  origin,  42,  43;  date 
of  his  revolt,  44  ;  his  reign  short 
and  troulded,  45  ;  his  death,  ib. 

Arsaces  (Arshag)  of  Armenia,  130 

Arsaces,  son  of  Artabanus  III.,  224 
/(.  ;  m  ide  king  of  Armenia,  228  ; 
murdered. by  his  attendants,  232; 
had  pn-obably  some  other  name, 
228  //. 

Arsamosata,  276 

Arsanias,  R.,  276 

Arshita,  128  n. 


438 


INDEX. 


ART 

Art,  ornamental,  of  the  Parthians, 
383-397 

Aitabauus  I.,  ascends  the  Parthian 
throne,  54 ;  invades  Media,  ib. ; 
driven  back  by  Antiochus  the 
Great,  55 ;  attacked  in  his  own 
country,  56;  defends  himself 
gallantly,  57 ;  makes  peace,  ib. ; 
succeeded  by  Priapatius,  59 

Artabanus  TI.,  son  of  Priapatius, 
ascends  the  throne,  111;  dangers 
to  which  he  was  exposed,  112- 
121;  he  attacks  the  Tochuri,  121; 
falls  in  battle,  123 

Artabanus  III.,  grew  up  among  the 
Dahfe,  223  ;  becomes  king  of  Media 
Atropatene,  ib.  ;  elected  king  of 
Parthia,  ib.  ;  his  embassy  to  Ti- 
berius, 224;  his  ne.5otiations  with 
Germanicus,  227;  coin  of,  228; 
he  seizes  Armenia,  and  niake>  his 
son,  Arsaces,  king,  ib.  ;  his  cruel- 
ties, 229;  conspiracy  against  him, 
230;  his  war  with  Pharasmanes  of 
Iberia,231-233  ;  his  first  expulsion 
from  his  kingdom,  234;  his  return 
and  triumph  over  Tiridates,  237; 
his  interview  with  Vitellius,  238  ; 
his  peace  with  Rome,  239  ;  his 
dealings  with  Asinai  and  Anilai, 
241  ;  his  second  expulsion  from 
his  kingdom,  246  ;  bis  second  re- 
storation, 247  ;  his  death,  248 

Artabanus,  son  of  Artabanus  TIL, 
249 

Artabanus,  supposed  reign  of,  285  ; 
perhaps  held  the  sovereignty  of 
tbe  Eastern  provinces,  2S(5  ;  men- 
tioned by  Zonara-^  a-*  king  of  Par- 
thia (in  A.D.  79),  29<)  i>. 

Arlabaiuis  IV.,  son  of  Volagases  IV., 
contends  with  his  brother  Vola- 
gases V.  for  the  Parthian  throne, 
348 ;  acknowledged  by  Rome  as 
sole  king,  349;  receives  an  embassy 
fiom  Caracallus,  351  ;  replies  to  it 
negatively,  353  ;  receives  another, 
and  accepts  the  overtures,  ib.  ; 
treacherously  attacked  by  Caracal- 
lus, 354  ;  attacks  the  Romans  in 
letnrn,  357  ;  refuses  the  offers  of 
Mncrinus,  358;  attacks  him  near 
Nisi  bis,  ib.  ;  gains  a  great  t)altli", 
300 ;  makes  peace  on  terms  honour- 


able to  Parthia,  ib. ;  neglects  to 
suppress  tbe  revolt  of  Artaxerxes, 
366 ;  attacks  liim  after  he  has 
grown  poweiful,  but  is  defeated 
and  slain,  367;  establishes  his 
brother  during  his  lifetime  asking 
of  Armenia,  ib.  ;  leaves  sons,  ib. 

Artanes,  140 

Artavasdes  I.,  of  Armenia,  son  of 
Tigranes  the  Great,  151  ;  offers 
his  aid  to  Crassus,  154  n.  ;  at- 
tacked by  Orodes,  158 ;  makes 
peace,  174;  his  knowledge  of 
Gieek,  175 ;  makes  alliance  with 
Antony,  198  ;  aids  him,  200  ;  de- 
serts him,  202  ;  seized  by  Antony, 
206  ;  cariied  into  Egypt,  207 

Artavasdes  II.,  of  Armenia,  212 

Artavasdes  of  Media,  205,  206 

Artavasdes,  acknowledged  as  king 
b}'  ihe  Parthians  after  the  death 
of  Artabanus  IV.,  367 ;  coin  of, 
ib.  ■»: 

Artaxata,  144 ;  visited  by  Germani- 
cus, 225  ;  derivation  of  the  word, 
226  )i.  ;  taken  by  Volagases  I., 
264  ;  Tiridates  made  king  at,  266; 
retaken  by  Romans,  270 ;  de- 
stro.\ed,  273 

Artaxerxes,  son  of  Sassan,  90 ;  re- 
volts, 305  ;  cstalilishcs  his  inde- 
pendence, 366;  conquers  Carma- 
nia,  ib. ;  estalili.shes  the  New  Per- 
sian Empire,  308 

Artaxias  1.,  72,  129 

Artaxias  II.,  206-208  ;  death  of,  213 

Artaxias  III.  {nee  Zeno) 

Artemita,  235 

Asia  Minor,  30,  32,  283 

Asian!  or  Asii,  118 

Asinai,  241,  243 

Asmon.x'an  princes,  188 

Aspasiac;e,48 

A.sj)ionus,  75 

Assyria,  32,  47,  79 

Assyrians,  26  ;  w  ar  with  Armenians, 
136,  137 

Asterabad,  63 

Atak,  7,  8 

Atar;;etis,  temple  of,  154  n. 

Atropatene,  king  of,  at  war  with 
Antiochus  Theus,  38;  king  of, 
submits  to  Tigranes,  140  ;  country 
of,  sometimes  under  Parthia,  87  ; 


INDEX. 


439 


subject  to  Pliraire-;  IV.,  201  ».  ; 
attacked  by  Antony,  201  ;  its 
capital,  Praaspa,  besieged,  202 ; 
siege  i-aised,  20o  ;  whole  country 
evacuated,  204;  elites  into  alli- 
ance with  Rome,  200  ;  invaded  by 
Phiaates  IV.,  and  forced  once 
more  to  submit  to  Pai  thia,  207 ; 
consigned  by  Volagases  I.  to  his 
brother,  Pacorus  {{),  202  n.;  in- 
vaded by  the  Alani,  291 ;  again 
attacked  bv  them,  320 

A.trop:ite>.  200 

Attalus  HI,  1:J2,  142 

Attasii,  IH 

Attidius  Cornelianus,  325 

Auijustus,  places  Herod  on  the  Jew- 
isli  tlu'one,  191;  his  dealings  with 
Phraates  IV.,  20!) ;  his  dismclina- 
tion  to  extend  the  dominions  of 
Iionic,  210;  he  .sends  Tiberius  to 
arrange  the  East,  212 ;  lie  interferes 
by  arms  in  .Armenia,  ib.  ;  sends 
Calu-i  to  the  East,  214;  negotiites 
with  Phraataces,  218;  allows  Vo- 
nones  to  return  to  Parihia  from 
Rome,  222  ;  succeeded  by  Tiberi- 
us, 225  ;  his  example  followed  by 
Clandni.s,  2ofi 

Aurelius,  M.,  succeeds  Antoninus 
Pius,  824;  sends  Verus  to  the 
East,  ;52.") ;  makes  Avidius  Cassius 
generalissimo,  327;  as-umes  title 
of  Medicus,  328 ;  threatened  by 
civil  war,  331  ;  crushes  the  rebel- 
lion, ib.  ;  dies,  and  is  succeeded  by 
Commodus,  332 

Avidius  Cassius,  173,  170,  325;  his 
Parthian  expedition.  327,  328  ;  his 
revolt  from  M.  Aurelius,  331 

A^xidares  (.see  E.xedares) 

Azol,  Sea  of,  291 

Azotu.s,  98 

BABYLON,  government  of,  as- 
.signed  to  Seleucus,  31  ;  passes 
under  Antigonus,  ib. ;  recovered 
by  Seleucus,  32  ;  at  first  made  his 
capital,  34;  Seleucia  preferred  to 
it,  ib. :  taken  by  Ptolemy  Euergetes, 
47  ;  relinquished,  il).  ;  submits  to 
Mithrid.ites  I.  of  Pirthia.  77; 
taken  by  Antiochus  Sidetes,  100  ; 


recovered  by  Phraates  IT.,  105; 
entrusted  by  him  to  Ilimems,  108; 
supports  Milhridates  III.  against 
Orodes,  149;  Jewish  element  in  its 
population,  243;  the  Jews  there 
set  upon,  244;  they  quit  the  city, 
ib. ;  city  taken  by  Trajan,  311;  by 
Severus,  340 

Bal)yIonia,  33,  79,  350 

Babylonians,  submit  to  Mithridales 
J.,  77;  ill-used  b^  Himcrus,  112, 
n.  ;  harassed  by  Ai  ilai.  243;  ad- 
verse to  the  Jews  of  Babylon,  244  : 
massaci  e  great  numbersof  them,  ib 

Bacasis,  21    70 

Bacchic  of  Euripides,  acted  befo  e 
Orodes  T.  and  Artavasdes,  175 

Bactria,  10,  15,  33;  conquer  id  by 
Cyrus,  20  ;  revolt  of,  40  ;  attacked 
by  Antiochus  the  Great,  58;  ad- 
vance of,  59-!!3  ;  charactei-  of,  SO  ; 
conquered  bv  Parthians,  78 :  re- 
volt of,  82  j  attacked  by  Scytlis, 
1 14 ;  provinces  of,  taken  from 
Scyths  by  Parthia,  124;  occupied 
bj^  Vardanes,  251 

Bactrians,  22,  83 

Baghdad,  258  n. 

Baghi.st-;n,  M.,  259 

Balkii,  33 

B.iidanes  (j^ee  Vardanes) 

Barseiniu.s,  king  of  Hatia,  helps  Ni- 
ger, 335 

Bas(jue  language,  23 

Bas  relief.s,  Parthian,  388-396 

Ba-siis,  185 

BatnjL',  307 

Behistiin,  55 

Beliona,  temple  of,  321 

Belik,  R.,  152.  102,  104,  327 

Belik,  battle  of  the,  104-7 

Bibulus,  180 

Bilat  DuM,  king  of  Armenia,  127 

Bir,  position  of,  152,  155  n. 

B/TrrtAfC,  meaning  of,  87 

Bitlnnii,  30.  38,  133 

Bolor,  M.,  32 

Bo.^porus.  kingdom  of  {see  Cherso 
nesus  Taurica) 

Bunnoo,  61 


/^.ESAR,    JULirS,  sends  a  body. 
^     of  Gau's  to  assist  Cra>^sus   in 


440 


INDEX. 


his  Parthian  expedition,  164;  his 
rivalry  with  Ponjpey  denudes  the 
eastern  provinces  of  troops,  178; 
his  defciit  of  Ponipey  at  Pharsalia. 
183;  quits  the  East,  184;  about 
to  engage  in  a  Partin;m  war,  when 
lie  is  assassinated,  185 

Cassenniu"!  Ptutus,  sent  by  Nero  to 
conduct  tile  war  in  Armenia,  274  ; 
despises  Corbulo,  ib.  ;  declares  his 
intention  of  making  Armenia  a  Ro- 
m.in  province,  275;  ravages  Ar- 
menia and  l)oasts  to  Nero  of  his 
successes,  ib.  ;  attacked  by  Vnla- 
gases  I..  276  ;  applies  to  Corbulo 
for  aid,  277;  capitulates,  ib.  ;  joins 
Corbulo,  278 ;  pretends  to  liavc 
discovered  a  plot  in  Coinmagene, 
28!)  ;  imposes  on  Vespasian,  ib.  ; 
invades  CommagenS,  and  carries 
all  i)efore  him,  290  ;  makes  it  a 
province,  ib. 

Caius  Ones u',  giandson  of  Augustus, 
sent  to  pacily  the  East,  2l4;  has 
an  interview  with  Phraatace<,  218; 
makes  peace  with  the  P.irth'ans, 
219  ;  wounded  in  Armenia,  dies,  ib. 

Cali-ula,  239,  252;  death  of,  248 

Callidromus.  295 

Callinicu.s,  290 

Capitals,  Parthian,  38P> 

Cappadocia,  30,  32,  37,  133;  weak- 
ness of,  179  ;  attacl;ed  by  Artaba- 
nus  IlL,  229;  committed  to  Cor- 
bulo, 267 ;  placed  under  Partus, 
275-278 

Caprea;,  229 

Capriu.s,  R.  (see  Zab) 

Caracallus,  acknovvledg'S  Volagases 
V.  as  Parthian  king,  349;  nego- 
tiates with  Ai  tabanus  TV.,  ib.  ;  his 
inordinate  ambition,  350;  makes 
OsihoL-ne  a  Roman  province,  ib.  ; 
.send.-!  embassy  from  Antioch  to 
Artabanus,  351  ;  his  proposals, 
352 ;  rejection  of  them,  353 ; 
presses  them,  and  they  are  ac- 
cepted, ib. ;  Ids  march  to  Ctesi- 
phon  and  treacherous  proceedings 
there,  354,  355;  his  destruction  of 
the  royal  tombs  at  Arbela,  35G  ; 
his  murder.  357 

Carducni,  307  n. 

C::r  iuiii.i!   mountair.s,  308  n. 


Caria,  18'9,  193 

Carmania,  33  ;    conquered  by  Arta 
xiTxes,  366 

CairhjB,  168,  181,357 

Carrheiies,  258 

Carthage  destroyed,  132 

Ca-ius,'  M.,  309 

Caspian  Gates,  55,  65;  description 
of,  66 ;  wrongly  placed  by  Jose- 
phus  ai  d  Tacitus,  232  w.;  held  by 
the  Ilyrcanians,  291 ;  passed  by 
the  Alani,  ib. 

Caspian  Sea,  32 

Ca>sius,  C,  prefect  of  Syria  under 
Claudius,  256,  257 

Cassi.is  Longinus,  an  officer  under 
Cra-;sus,  said  to  have  disappioved 
of  his  line  of  march,  157;  escapes 
from  Cairha?  and  reaches  Syria, 
169  ;  repulses  the  first  Parthiiin 
bands  wliicli  cross  the  Euphrates, 
178;  yields  to  their  second  attack, 
ib. ;  beats  them  back  from  Anti- 
och, 180;  again  defeats  them,  ib.  ; 
after  the  murder  of  Julius  Cicsar, 
applies  for  aid  to  Orodes,  185  ;  re- 
ceives a  body  of  Parthian  troops, 
186;   falls  at  Philippi,  ib. 

Caucasus,  pusses  of,  232 

Cendebi\3us   98 

Chaldeans,  spells  of,  328 

Chandragupta  (,^ee  Sandiacottus) 

Chang-kian,  116  n. 

Charax  of  Media,  07,  69 

Charax  Sidte,  152  ». 

Charax  Spasini,  67  n. 

Chavn;eus,  191  ii. 

Chensi,  1 15 

Cheisonesus  Taurica,  conquered  by 
Mithridates  of  Pontus,  133;  he 
takes  refuge  there,  144 

Chorasmi'i,  9,  15,  27 

Chorasmians,   16,  22,  118 

Chosroes,  22,  294;  made  king,  297; 
reign  of,  299-316;  dealh  ol,  317 

Cliristiauity,  di>int(grating  cflect  df, 
300 

Cicero,  proconsul  of  Cilicia,  179 

Cilicia,  inider  the  Selcudda',  105  ; 
submits  to  Tigranes,  141  ;  invaded 
by  the  Parthians,  179;  Decidius 
Saxa  slain  ihoe,  189;  Parihians 
defeated  there,  190;  appointed  as 
a    resid  nee    for    V< 'nones,    227 ; 


INDEX. 


441 


assailable  from  Commagen6,  289 ; 
give-;  refuge  to  Anliochus  of  Com- 
luagene,  2!J0 

Cimmerian  Bosporus,  oOG 

Claudius,  allows  Mithridates  of 
Iberia  to  quit  Rome,  252  ;  applied 
to  by  Parthian  rebels,  255  ;  his  re- 
ply, 250 

Cleopatra  of  Egypt,  20G 

Cleopatra,  dau-ihter  of  Antiochus 
the  Great,  iT 

Cleopatra,  wife  of  Demetrius  II.,  81 

Cleopatra,  daughter  of  Tigianes  tlie 
Great,  KJi 

Climate  of  Parthia,  8,  101;  of  Syria, 
101 

Clodius  Albinus,  333,  337 

Coel'-Syria,  71 

Coffins,  Parthian,  385 

Colchians,  18,  3(iG 

Colchis,  18;  concpiered  by  Mithri- 
dates of  Pont  us,  133 

CotUcean  Apollo,  temple  of,  328 

Cominagene,  occupied  by  Parthians 
in  force,  190;  Antiochus,  knig  of, 
192;  traversed  by  Corbulo,  277 ; 
seized  by  Paetus,  289 ;  and  made  a 
Roman  province,  290 

Conimodus,  becomes  emperor,  332  ; 
character  of  his  reign,  ib.  ;  mur- 
dered, 333 

Corbulo,  summoned  from  Germany 
to  conduct  the  war  against  Vola- 
ga-es  I.,  207;  makes  overtures  to 
Volagases,  ib.  ;  invades  Armenia, 
209  ;  conquers  it  and  gives  it  to 
Tigranes,  270  ;  piotects  ilyrcanian 
envoys,  271  n. ;  threatens  Vola- 
gases, 273  ;  receives  coadjutor  in 
Pictus,  274  ;  invades  Mesopotamia, 
275  ;  marches  to  the  relief  of 
Pietu.s,  277;  makes  truce  with 
Volagases,  279 ;  recjuired  to  re- 
new the  war,  ib. ;  invades  Armenia 
a  second  time,  280  ;  arranges  terms 
of  peace,  281 

Corma,  R.,  258 

Cornelia,  wife  of  Pompey  the  Great, 
184 

Cornelianns  (fiee  Attidius) 

Cornices,  Parthian,  378,  384 

Crassus,  obtains  the  consulship,  150 ; 
his  designs,  ib.  ;  proceeds  to  the 
East,  152  ;  his  expedition  against 


the  Parthian.s,  152-172  ;  his  death, 
172;  treatment  of  his  body,  172, 
175 

Crassus,  P.,  son  of  the  Tiiumvir. 
sent  by  Julius  C.Tsar  with  some 
Gallic  horse  to  help  his  father, 
104  ;  ordered  to  charge  the  Par- 
thians, 105  ;  defeated  and  killed, 
100 

Creticus  Silanus  (see  Silanus) 

Ctesias,  views  of,  20 

Ctesiphon,  capital  of  tlie  Parthian 
empire,  92  ;  chief  residenco  of  the 
coUit,  ib.  ;  submits  to  Artabanus 
III.,  224;  occupied  by  Tiridates 
If.,  235;  recovered  byArtibanus, 
237;  persecution  of  Jews  a*.  244; 
protected  by  Gotarzes,  258  ".; 
taken  by  Trajan,  312;  relinv-|Ui>hed 
to  Parthamaspates,  314  ;  recovered 
by  Cho-roes,  315;  occupied  b}' 
Avidius  Cassius,  328  ;  palace  there 
burnt,  ib.  ;  taken  by  Severu<,  341  ; 
scene  of  meeiing  between  Artaba- 
nus IV.  and  Caracallus,  354 ; 
massacre  at,  ib. 

Cyaxares,  110 

Cyme,  309 

Cyrene,  38 

Cyrrhestica,  180 

Cyrus,  name  of,  corrupted  into 
Chosroes,  23 ;  Cyrus  the  Great 
conquers  Parthia,  20  ;  his  expe- 
ditiiin  against  the  Massaget*,  1 17  ; 
Parthian  kings  regard  themselves 
as  his  successors,  229 

Cyrus  the  younger,  152 


DACT,  291  71.,  294,  295,  321  ?;. 
Dacia,  conquest  of,  by  Trajan, 
299 

Dadarshish,  128  n. 

Daha%  the  ancestors  oi  the  Par- 
thians, according  to  some,  17 ; 
story  of  their  migration  from  tiie 
Mreotis  region,  i8;  their  real 
ethnic  connection  with  the  Par- 
thians, 43  ;  their  geographical  po- 
sition,118;  Artabanus  111.  brought 
up  among  them,  223  ;  give  him  a 
refuge  when  he  is  driven  from  his 
kingdom  by  Tiridates,  234  ;  help 
him  to  recover  his  kingdom,  237  ; 


442 


INDEX. 


DAM  I 

assist  Gotarzes  against  Yardanes, 
251;    make  a  raid   into   Parthia,  | 
265 

Dainaghan,  3 

Dainani  Koh,  4 

Danube,  tribes  on,  331 

Dara,  or  Dareiuni,  53 

Darius  Hystaspis,  included  the  Par- 
thians  in  his  IGth  satrapy,  IG,  27  ; 
his  expedition  ngaiiist  the  Euro- 
pean Scyths,  117;  Median  revolt 
against  liiin,  129 

Darius,  son  of  Ai  tabanus  III.,  239 

Decebalus,  294,  295 

Decilius  Saxa,  defeated  by  the  Par- 
thians,  187;  quits  Antiocii  and 
flies  to  Cihcia,  188;  engages  the 
Parthians  there,  but  is  defeated 
and  slain,  189,  193 

Deiotarus,  178,  179 

Deira,  plain  of,  258  n. 

Demetrius  of  Bactria,  son  of  Euthy- 
demus,  59;  engages  in  Indian 
wars,  62  ;  superseded  in  Bactria 
itself  by  Eucratidas,  70 

Demetrius  I.  of  vSyria  (Soter),  kept 
in  Home  as  a  hostage,  74;  makes 
his  escape,  and  becomes  king  of 
Syria,  ib.  ;  his  civil  war  with 
Lysias,  81 

Demetrius  Tl.  of  Syria  (Nicator),  his 
civil  war  with  Tryphon,  81  ;  his 
Parthian  (expedition,  82;  Mithri- 
datcs  I.  takes  him  prisoner,  83  ;  his 
confinement  in  Ilyrcania,  ib.  ;  his 
attempts  to  escape,  96  ;  his  ac- 
knowledgment of  Jewish  inde- 
pendence, 97  ;  his  release  and  re- 
turn to  h's  kingdom,  100,  106; 
his  Parthian  wife,  Rhodogune,  107  ; 
his  daughter  taken  to  wife  by 
Pliraates  II.,  ib. 

Dcrbend,  pass  of,  232  n. 

Derceto  (.vr  Atargt-tis) 

Diaibekr,  257,  308  n. 

Dio  Cassins.  228,  304 

Diodot.is  I.  of  Hactria,  40,  42 ;  allied 
with  Seleucus  CaUinicns,  48  ;  de- 
serts him  ami  joins  Tiridates,  49 

Djuvein,  M.,  4 

Dniester,  ]l..  i:33 

Do'iiiiian,  292,  294 

Drangiana,  79 

iJraiigians,  or  Sir.mgians,  11,  71 


ECBATANA,  ca[)ilal  of  Media  Mag- 
na, occupied  by  Artabanus  I., 
54;  recovered  by  Antiochus  the 
Great,  55  ;  a  residence  of  the  Par- 
thian court,  93 

Edessa,  capital  of  0.srhoen6,  at  foot 
of  Mens  Masius,  156;  Meherdates 
entertained  there,  257  ;  occupied 
by  Trajan,  307  ;  revolts  from  him, 
and  is  punished,  313  ;  Caracallus 
at,  356 

Egypt,  30,  71  ;  wars  with  Armenia 
(?),  126  ;  furnishes  soldiers  to  Cor- 
bulo.  128  n. 

El  tiadhr  (.■Jt'e  Hatra) 

Elburz,  M.,  elevation  of,  in  Ilyrcania, 
57  ;  crossed  by  Antiochus  the 
Great,  ib.  ;  streams  from  it  water 
Rhagiana,  65  ;  position  in  it  occu- 
pied by  the  Caspian  Gates,  66 ; 
mostly  held  by  Parthians,  79 

Elegeia,  303,  324 

Eleia,  309 

Elephants,  readily  procurable  from 
India  by  the  Seleuc  dit;,  33  ;  five 
linndred  given  by  Sandracottus  to 
Seleucus  Nicator,  61  ;  others  given 
by  Sophagesenus  to  Antiochus  the 
Groat,  62 ;  hirgely  employed  in 
war  by  the  Seleu(  id  piinces,  33  n. ; 
sm'rend(red  by  Enthydemus  to 
Antiochus  the  (iriat,  58  v. 

Elyuiais,  natives  of,  resist  Antiochus 
Epiphane.s,  73  ;  aKacked  by  Mith- 
lidatis  I.  of  Parthia,  77  ;  governed 
by  its  own  king,  ib.  ;  made  a  pro- 
vince of  Parthia,  il>.  ;  character 
of,  80  ;  revolts  of,  82;  re-atiached 
to  Parthia,  87 ;  its  kings  allowed 
special  privili'ges,  ib.  n. 

Epiphanis,  290 

Erucius  Clarus,  313 

Eryandus,  128  n. 

Ettrek  (or  Attrek),  R.,  a  river  of 
Ilyrcania,  3;  head-streams  which 
form  it,  rise  near  Kooshan,  4; 
fcitility  of  its  valley,  12  ;  probably 
the  ancient  Ochus,  43 

Euciatidas,  king  of  liaclria,  ruled  at 
same  time  with  Demetrius,  70 ; 
outlived  him,  ib.  ;  while  engaged 
in  Indian  wars,  lost  territoi-y  to 
the  Parthians,  75;  succeeded  by 
his  son,  Ilcliocics,  78 


INDEX. 


443 


Etnir 
Eumenes  T.  of  Pergamus,  81,  38 
Euintnes,  adversary  of  Antigonus,  31 
Euphidtes,  R.,  crossed  by  Crassus, 
152  ;  again  crossed,  157  ;  recrossed 
by  Cassius,    169  ;  crossed  by  the 
Parthians,     178;   recrossed,    181; 
battle  near,  191  ;  Antony  at,  201; 
Phraataces  and  Cains  Ca'sar  have 
interview  on,  218  ;  Artabanus  pro- 
poses interview'   on   it  with   Ger- 
manicus,    227;    has   interview  on 
it    with    Viteliius,     238 ;    crossed 
by  Meherdates,  257;  preparations 
J    madetobiidge  it,  207  ;  appioached 
by  Volagases  I.,   273  ;  crossed  by 
Corbulo,    275 ;    Pjetus  joins  Cor- 
bulo  at,  278 ;   Samosata  on,  289  ; 
Trajan    at,     303  ;    fleet  built   on, 
311;    Trajan    descends,    ib.  ;  Ha- 
drian   withdraws    legions  within, 
316;  Parthians  cross,   338;  Seve- 
rus  descends.  310 
Europns,  battle  near,  326 
Euthydemeia,  62 

Euthydenius,  king  of  Bactria,  at- 
tacked by  Antiochus  the  Great, 
57 ;  admitted  to  terms  of  peace, 
58;  engages  in  Indian  wars,  62; 
his  son,  Demetrius,  ib. 
Evemerus,  108  {nee  Ilimerus) 
Exedares  (or  Axidares),  non-Arian 
character  of  name,  22 ;  son  of 
Paconis  II.,  297;  made  King  of 
Armenia,  299 ;  deposed  by  Cho.s- 
roes,  301  ;  accused  of  murdering 
Parthamasiris,  305 


FAME,  figure  of,  390 
Pars,  province  of,  366 
Ferghana,  1 15 
Forum  at  Rome,  282,  283 


GABIXIAN  LAW,  280  n. 
Gabinius,  U8 

Galatia,  occupied  by  Mithridates  of 
Pontus,  133  ;  governed  by  Deio- 
tarus  as  a  Roman  dependency, 
178;  committed  to  Corbulo,  267; 
made  over  to  Partus,  27-1 ;  suffers 
from  earthquakes,  3U9 

Galba,  288 

Ganges,  R.,  61 


HAD 

Gaugamela,  310 

Gauls,  contend  with  Antiochus  I.  in 
Asia  Minor,  38  ;  body  of,  sent  to 
aid  Crassus  by  Julius  Caesar,  1 64  ; 
fight  bravely,  but  are  defeated, 
166 ;  included  among  the  auxi- 
liaries of  An  ton  j^,  200 

Gedrosia,  33 

Geography  of  Parthia  Proper,  1-8 

Georgia,  231 

Germanicus,  sent  to  the  East  b}^ 
Tiberius,  225  ;  his  character,  ib.  ; 
his  proceedings  in  Armenia,  226 ; 
his  dealings  with  Artabanus  III., 
227  ;  his  death,  228 

Gette,  117 

Ghilan,  plain  of,  258  n. 

Gibbon,  87 

Girduni  Siyaluk  pass,  66  n. 

Girduni  Sudurrah  pass,  66 

Gordyene,  name  of  Upper  Mesopo- 
tamia, 135;  ruled  by  a  Parthian 
tributary  king,  ib.  ;  conquered  by 
Tigranes  the  Great,  ib.,  140 ; 
capital  of,  Tigranocerta,  141 ;  dis- 
puted between  Tigranes  and 
Phraates  III..  145,  146;  recovered 
bj'^  Mithridates  III,  147;  made 
over  by  Vardanes  I.  to  Izutes, 
253  n.  ;  conquered  by  Trajan, 
307;  relinquished  by  Hadrian,  316 

Gota'-zes,  accession  of,  249  ;  displaced 
by  Vardanes,  251  ;  re'ires  to  Hyr- 
cania,  252  ;  replaced  uj/on  the 
Parthian  throne,  254  ;  rules  with 
harshness,  2)5;  contends  with 
Meherdatt'S,  257-9  ;  sets  up  in- 
.scription,  259,  260;  dies,  260 

Greek  towns  in  Parlliia,  di.saffected, 
82  ;  thuir  number  verj'  great,  88 
n.  ;  allowed  a  5'/^/v/-independencc, 
89  ;  submit  to  Crassus,  152  ;  wel- 
come Tiriiiates  II.,  234;  chief  of 
them,  Seleucia,  88  ;  Hecatompylos, 
45;  Apameia,  152  i).  ;  Anthemu- 
sias,  or  Charax  Sid;e,  il). ;  Ichna?, 
ib.;  Nicephorium,  ib.;  Zenodotium, 
153 

Gurghan,  R.,  4,  5, 12 


II 


ADRIAN,    relinquishes   all   Tra- 
jan's Eastern  conquests,    316; 
continues    on    good    terms    with 


444 


ESTDEX. 


BAL 

Parthia,  817;  insulted  by  Pharas- 
manes  of  Iberia,  320  ;  returns  the 
insult,  ib.  ;  treats  him  mildly,  321 ; 
dies,  ib. 

Hal  us,  235 

Haiiiadan,  93 

Hamoon  (Sea)  11 

Hatra  (el-Hadhr),  taken  by  Trajan, 
311;  revolts,  313;  besieged  by  Tra- 
jan, repulses  him,  315;  king  of, 
helps  Pescennius  Niger,  335  ;  at- 
tacked by  Severiis,  repulses  him, 
342-345  ;  its  wealth,  348  ;  plan  of, 
374;  architecture  of  its  palace- 
temple,  375-381  ;  its  reservoirs 
and  tombs,  381,382 

llatreni  (people  of  Hatra),  343, 
344 

Heavenly  Goddess,  title  of  Musa, 
220 

Hccat.neus,  10 

Ilecatompj'los,  a  residence  of  the 
Parthian  kings,  3  ?;.  ;  a  colony 
founded  by  Alexander,  45  ;  always 
the  chief  city  of  Parthia  Proper, 
54  ;  taken  by  Antiochus  the  Great, 
56;  old  palace  there,  maintained, 
93  H. 

HeUocles  of  Bactria,  78 

Hellespont,  189,  282 

Ilelmend,  R..  117 

Heniochi,  30  G 

Herat,  11,  118,  254 

lieri-rud,  R.,  icceivcs  the  Tejend, 
or  river  of  Meshed,  5  ;  called  Alius 
by  the  Greek-,  12  ;  eastern  bound- 
ary of  Parthia  at  accession  of  Mith- 
ridates  I.,  69  ;  western  boundary 
of  Baclria,  70 

HermiCMs,  71  n. 

Herod  tiie  Great,  191 

Herod  Agrippa  H.,  267 

Herod  Antii)as,  238  n. 

Herod,  king  of  Chalcis,  267  w. 

Hierapolis,  154  n. 

Ilimerus  (Evemerus),  made  satrap 
of  Babylon  by  Phraates  II.,  KiH; 
disgracefully  connected  wiih  him, 
ib.  ;  his  cruellies,  109  ?/.,  and  1  12 
n.  ;  his  war  with  MesOne,  1 12 

Hindoo  Koosli  M.,  77,  81 

]Ii<)n<,f-nu  (Iluns?),  115 

Hirru.s,  183 

Hit,  311 


IND 

Huns,  115 

Hydaspes,  R.,  62,  78 

Hyrcania,  position  of,  3  ;  character 
of,  12  ;  allied  with  Parthia  in  re- 
volt from  Darius  Hystaspis,  15; 
imited  in  the  same  satrapy  with 
Parthia,  27 ;  comprised  in  empire 
of  Seleucus,  33 ;  conquered  by 
Tiridates  I.,  48  ;  invaded  hy  An- 
tiochus the  Great,  57  ;  revolts  from 
Mithridatesl.,  but  is  againreduced 
by  him,  76  ;  assigned  as  a  residence 
to  Demetrius  Nicator,  b3.  96  ; 
invaded  by  Scyths,  114  ;  affords  a 
refuge  to  Artabanus  HL,  234; 
assigned  to  Gotarzes  by  his  bro- 
ther, Vardanes,  252;  civil  war 
there  between  the  brothers,  254 ; 
revolts  from  Volagases  1.,  269, 
271  ;  allies  itself  with  the  A  lain, 
291  ;  ]irobahly  separate  from  Par- 
thia till  the  lall  of  tlie  empire, 
293 

Hyrcanus,  188 

Hyrcanus,  John,  98,  99 

Ilystaspes,  16 


TBERIA,  231 

1  Ibeiians,furnish  horse  to  Antony, 
200  ;  engaged  by  Rome  to  attack 
Artabanus  HI ,  232  ;  assisted  in 
their  attack  by  Albanians  and 
Saruiatians,  ib.  ;  succeed  in  occu- 
pying Armenia,  233;  maintain 
their  conquest  by  the  aid  of  Rome, 
252;  attacked  by  Tiridates,  bio- 
ther  of  Volagases  I.,  repulse  him, 
264 ;  driven  out  of  Armenia  by 
Volagases,  266  ;  received  into  al- 
liance by  Trajan,  306 
-Icluiic,  16() 

Hi,  R.,  115 

lllyricum,  280  «.,  282 

llyats,  25 

Iiidates,  100 

India,  part  of,  included  in  the  empire 
of  Seleucus  Nicator,  33;  parts  of, 
conquered  by  the  Hactrian  princes, 
67,  7(1;  iiivade.l  by  Scyths,  118, 
1'24  ;  included  in  Crassus'  scheme 
of  conquest,  150;  coveted  by  Tra- 
jan, 313 


INDEX. 


445 


IND  • 

tndo-Scythia,  118 

Indus,  R.,  crossed  by  Seleucus  Ni- 
cator.  GO ;  by  Demetrius  of  Bac- 
tria,  03 ;  lower  valley  of,  occupied 
bv  Scvths,  118 

Ionia,  189,  193 

Ipsus,  battle  of,  :^3.  129 

Iran,  great  plateau  of,  11.  101 

Iran,  silt  desert  of,  55,  65,  79 

ftalJ^  281,  388 

Isichi,  369  ?!. 

Isido  e  of  Charax,  his  date,  117  n. 

Izate>,  tributary  king  of  Adiabene, 
M  convc't  to  Ju  laisui,  317  :  gives 
a  reaige  to  Artabmus  II.,  ib.  ;  re- 
l)lac  's  liim  on  his  throne,  ib  ;  re- 
\\ardeJ  by  the  gift  of  Gordyene, 
353  n.  ;  gives  unpalatable  ad- 
vice to  Vanlanes  I  ,  35:5 ;  is  at- 
tacked by  him,  ib.  ;  su|)ports  Me- 
hjrdates  against  Uotar/.es,  257  ; 
deserts  him,  258  ;  is  attacked  by 
Vulagases  I.,  364;  dies,  265  ;  his 
bones  conveyed  to  Jerusalem,  36 f5 


TAGHETAt,  M..  4 


Jaglietu,  II.,  203  n. 

JaU  or  Jits.  118 

Ja.xirtes,  R  ,  bounded  the  empire  of 
Seleucus  Nicator,  82 ;  northern 
li.nit  of  the  Aspasiacie,  48,  75; 
norihern  limit  of  the  influence  of 
I'artliii,  7;  southern  limit  of 
Scythia  Proper,  118  ;  advance  of 
t'le  Su  to,  115;  establishment  of 
th>-  Tochiri  on,  118 

Jews,  driven  into  insurrection  by 
Antiochus  Epiphanes,  73;  con- 
tend with  the  regent,  Lysias,  78  ; 
assist  Demetrius  il.  agamsl  Try- 
phon,  97  ;  he  acknowledges  tiieir 
independence,  ib. ;  attacked  by 
Antiochus  Sidetes,  98 ;  reduced 
to  subjection,  ib.  ;  take  part  in 
Parthian  expedition  of  Sidetes, 
99;  revolt  frorn  him,  and  once 
more  establish  their  independence, 
10');  injured  by  Crassus,  154//.  ; 
throw  off  the  j'oke  of  Home.  177; 
accept  a  king  from  ttie  Part'n  ins, 
1  Ss  ;  adhere  to  the  Parthnui  cause, 
191  ;  form  an  important  element 
in    the  population  of  many   Par- 


thian provinces,  340  ;  produce  dis- 
turbances in  Bnbylonia,  341  ;  are 
massacred,  344 

Jczireh,  357,  80S  ».,  810 

Jotapa,  married  to  Alexander,  son  of 
Antony  and  Cleopatra,  307 

Judaism,  element  of  weakness  in 
Parthiii.  800 

Jugs,  Parllra'i,  887 

Jiilfa  ferry,  on  Araxes  R.,  304 

Jnlianus,  Didius,  buys  Roman  Em- 
pire, 383 

Julius  Alexiinder,  313 

JuHus  Martialis,  murders  Caracallus, 
357 


I/ABIJL,  118 

iV     Kaleh  Erij,  65 

Kanat-s  2,  55 

K  ira  Su,  R.,  258  n. 

Karta,  23 

K:isvin.  65 

Kerman  (sec  Carmania) 

Kermanshaw,  55,  258  n. 

Khabour,  R.  (Eastern),  346 

Khabour,  R.  (Western),  152,  158,  162 

Khaff,  4 

Khare-m,  Great  De.-ert  of,  4,  114 

Khorasan.  3,  7,  60 

Kh-hathiita,  128  n. 

King  of  kings,  common  title  of  Par- 
thian kings  on  coins,  88 ;  first 
assumed  by  Mithridates  I.,  90; 
borne  by  Tigrane-  the  Great,  ib. 
?;.,  141  n.  ;  used  by  Phraataces 
in  letter  to  Augustus,  218;  equi- 
valent title  used  by  Gotarzes,  in 
inscription,  300 

Kiiuiamus,  347 

Kooshan,  4,  5 

Kur,  R.,  125 

Kurrachee,  6 

Kurush,  23 


I  ABIEXUS,  Q.,  sent  as  envoy  to 
A-^  Orodes  by  Brutus  and  Cassius, 
187  n.  ;  joins  the  Parthians,  ib.  ; 
invades  the  eastern  piovinces  of 
Rone,  in  conjunction  with  Pa- 
corus,  187  ;  overruns  Asia  .Minor, 
188;  attacked  by  Ventidius,  re- 
treats,   189  ;  captured  and  put  to 


446 


INDEX. 


death,  190;  issues  coins  with  the 
title  '  Parthicus  Imperator,'  189  n. 

Ltetus,  342  7i. 

Lamps,  Parthian,  387 

Lebanon,  245 

Lepi^ius,  186  ?i. 

Lil)erius  Maximus,  295 

Locusts,  273 

Loftus,  Mr.,  Partliian  discoveries  of, 
383-388 

Lucullus,  offended  at  the  conduct  of 
Sanatroecis,  143 ;  his  war  with 
Tigranes  tlie  Great,  150;  his  su- 
periority as  a  commander  to 
Crassus,  153  ;  route  by  which  he 
entered  Armenia,  280 

Lyci;i,  189 

Lycus,  R.,  100 

Lydia,  189,  ]St3 

Lysanias,  191  n. 

Lysias,  regent  for  Antiochus  Eupa- 
tor,  73  ;  his  war  with  the  Jews,  ib.  ; 
civil  war  between  him  and  Philip, 
75  ;  betweeu  him  and  Demetrius 
Soter,  74,  81 

Lysimachus,  30,  35 


MACEDONL\,  30;  conquered  by 
Home,  132 

Macheloiii   300 

Macrinus,  becomes  emperor  of  Rome, 
357  ;  ne;.;otiates  with  Artabanus, 
ib.;  attacked  bj'  him,  358  ;  defeated 
at  Xisibis  after  a  three  days'  battle, 
359;  buys  peace,  360 

Mieotis,  I,.,  291 

Magi,  form  a  portion  of  the  Parthian 
Senate,  85;  anti(]uity  of,  86; 
numbers  of,  under  the  Partliians, 
80  ;  i)()wer  of,  87  ;  ne<rlc'ct  of,  by 
later  Parthian  kings,  365,  400 

Magnesia,  battle  of,  'l29,  131 

Magus,  figure  of,  393 

Malchus,  191  n. 

Mani^are-:,  307 

Mardi.  attacked  by  Phraates  L,  63  ; 
position  of,  ib.  ;  reduction  of,  64; 
reni'ival  of,  to  Charax,  67;  cha- 
racter of  their  country,  80 

Margiana,  10,  79 

Margians.  22 

Marius  Maximus,  342  n. 


MES 

Martius  Verus,  general  of  Verus  the 
Emperor,  325 

Masius,  M.,  line  along  foot  of,  fol- 
lowed by  Alexander,  156  ;  should 
have  been  lollowed  by  Crnssus, 
173 ;  whole  chain  overrun  and 
reduced  by  Trajan,  307 

Massagetas,  expedition  of  Cyrus 
against,  117  ;  a  branch  of  the  great 
Scythic  nation,  118  ;  occupy  both 
banks  of  the  Oxus,  ib  ;  their 
tribes,  ib.  ;  their  habits,  119; 
thought  by  some  to  have  been  the 
ancestors  of  the  Alani,  291  7i. 

Maurja  princes,  62 

Maximus,  defeat  of,  313 

Mazanderan,  63 

Me.les,  26,  33 

Media   Atropaten6   (see   AtropatenS) 

Media  Magna,  included  inempiieof 
Si'leucus,  33;  submits  to  Ptolemy 
Euergetes,  46;  invaded  by  Aita- 
banus  I.,  54;  recovered  by  Antio- 
chus the  Great,  55 ;  invaded  by 
Phraates  L,  65 ;  conquered  by 
Mithridates  I.,  75;  character  of, 
80  ;  assigned  as  a  governn;ent  to 
Mithridates  IIL,  148;  a  refuge  to 
threatened  Arsacidaj,  261 ;  perhaps 
assigned  to  Pacorus  by  A'olagases 
I.,  262  n. ;  invaded  by  Avidius 
Cassius,  328 

Meerai)ee,  M.,  4 

Megistanes,  how  composed,  85  ; 
their  powers,  ib.  ;  elect  Artabanus 
II.  in  succession  to  his  nej)hew, 
Phraates  I.,  Ill;  depose  Arta- 
banus III.  and  elect  Kinnamus, 
247;  de[)Ose  Golarzes  and  elect 
Vardanes,   250 

Meherdales,  son  of  Vonones,  sent  for 
as  king  by  the  Parthians,  265  ; 
allowed  by  Claudius  to  accept  the 
call,  256;  crosses  tlie  Euphrates, 
ib.  ;  marclies  by  Diarbekr,  1  il,  and 
Jezirch,  on  Nineveh,  257;  enters 
Adiabene.ib.;  snpi)orted  by  Izate.s, 
ib.  ;  deserted  by  him,  258;  de- 
feated by  Golarzes,  ib.  ;  t.iken  pri- 
soner and  mutilated,  259  ;  called 
Mithrates  in  an  inscription,  260  ii. 

Melitcne  (now  Malatiyeh),  280 

Merv,  10.  33 

McsGne,  112 


INDEX. 


447 


MES 

Meshed,  3 

Meshed,  I?.,  4 

Meshed  valley,  ^,  G 

Mesopotamia,  coniprispd  in  the  em- 
pire of  Seleucus  Nicator,  32  ;  sub- 
mits to  Ptolemy  Euergetes,  47;  re- 
covered l»y  the  Syrians,  ib. ;  passes 
under  Parthia,  lO"*  ;  invaded  by 
Crassus,  152;  recovered  by  the 
Parthians,  176;  Jews  in  240; 
ravaee  of  locusts  in,  273  ;  invaded 
by  Corbiilo,  275  ;  evacuated  by  the 
Romans,  279;  conquered  by 'J"ra- 
jan  and  made  a  Roman  province, 
307;  relinquished  by  Hadrian, 
316  ;  invaded  by  Avidius  Cassius, 
327;  taken  fiom  Parthia  and 
made  dependent  on  Rome,  330 ; 
revolts,  336 ;  again  reduced  by 
Sevei  us,  337  ;  recovered  by  Vola- 
gases  IV.,  338  ;  re-occu])ied  by 
Severus,  340;  held  by  Caracallus, 
354,  S.jG  ;  invaded  b}'  Artabanus 
TV.,  358  ;  remains  in  the  possession 
of  the  Romans,  3G0 

Miletus.  38 

Minni,  126,  127 

Mithra,  309 

Mithrates,  260  (see  Meherdates) 

Mithridates  I.,  king  of  Parthia,  sue 
ceeds  his  brother,  Phraates  1.,  67; 
importance  of  his  reign  to  Parthia, 
69  ;  tak'LS  territory  from  Bactria, 
75  ;  conquers  Media,  76  ;  crushes 
revolt  in  Hyrcania,  ib.  ;  occupies 
Elymais,  77  ;  receives  the  submis- 
sion of  Persia  and  Bal)ylonia,  ib.  ; 
conquers  Bactria,  78 ;  invades 
India  (?).  78  ;  extent  of  his  do- 
minions, 79 ;  attacked  by  Deme- 
trius Soter,  82  ;  defeats  him  and 
takes  him  prisoner,  83  ;  dies,  ib  ; 
system  of  government  which  he 
establi.shed,  84-90  ;  his  character, 
95 

Mithridates  II.  (the  Great)  king  of 
Parthia.  succeeds  his  father.  Arta- 
banus 11.,  123;  effectually  checks 
the  Scj'ths,  124  ;  enlarges  the  em- 
pire towards  the  East,  ib. ;  attacks 
Armenia,  125  ;  makes  an  advanta- 
geous peace,  receiving  'i'igranes  as 
a  hostage,  131  ;  aids  Tigranes  to 
mount  the  Armenian  throne,  134  ; 


MON 

loses  territory  to  him,  ib.  ;  nego- 
tiates with  Sulla,  135;  dies,  ib.  ; 
summary  of  bis  reign.  136 

Mithridates  III.,  king  of  Parthia,  in 
conjunction  with  his  brother, 
Orodes,  assa.ssinates  his  father, 
Phraates  III..  147  ;  engages  in  war 
with  the  Armenians,  and  recovf  rs 
Gordyene  from  them,  ib.  ;  rules 
harshly.  148  ;  deposed  by  his  sub- 
jects, ib.  ;  tries  to  recover  his 
kingdom  by  force  of  arms  from 
Orodes,  149 ;  fails,  ib.  ;  submits 
to  Orodes,  and  is  put  to  death,  ib. 

Mithridates  IV.  «f  Parthia,  a  pre- 
tender contemporary  witb  Pacorus 
II.  and  Chosroes,  296  ;  his  coins, 
297  )i. 

Mithridates  IV.  of  Pontus,  132 

Mithridates  V.  (the  Great),  king  of 
Pontus,  rapidly  builds  up  a  great 
empire,  133;  allied  with  and 
assisted  by  Ti^^ranes  the  Great,  ib. ; 
thwarted  bj'^  Rome,  134;  feared 
by  Parthia,  141  ;  vanquished  by 
Rome  in  first  war,  142 ;  asks  aid 
from  Sanatra^ces,  143;  attacked 
by  Lucullus,  and  then  by  Pompey, 
ib.  ;  defeated  and  driven  to  take 
refuge  in  the  Tauric  Chersonese, 
144 

Mithridates, brother  of  Pharasinanes, 
king  of  Iberia,  made  king  of  Ar- 
menia by  Pharasmanes,  232 ; 
maintains  himself  successfully 
against  Artabanus  III.,  233;  sum- 
moned to  Rome  by  Caligula  and 
detained  there,  252 ;  allowed  to 
return  to  Armenia  by  Claudius, 
ib.  ;  re-established  in  his  kingdom, 
253 ;  murdered  by  Rhadamistus, 
his  nephew,  263 

Mithridates,  a  Parthian  satrap,  243, 
243 

Miyanabad  valley,  4 

]Miyanabad,  R.,  o 

Mnasciias,  138 

Moesia,  295 

Monge.ses,  22,  198,  272,  273 

Mongols,  24 

Monobazus,  tributary  king  of  AJia- 
bene  under  the  Parthians,succeeds 
his  brother,  Izates,  265  ;  accepted 
without  reluctance    by  Volagascs 


448 


INDEX. 


I.,  266;  ordered  by  Volagases  t> 
invade  Armenia,  obeys  him,  273 ; 
besieges  Tigranoccrta,  ib. 

Mosul,  207 

Moughojar  Hills,  1 

Mozdok,  pass  of,  232  n 

Murg-ab,  10 

Murwut,  Gl 

Musa  (Thermu^a),  wife  of  Piiraatcs 
IV.,  was  an  Italian  slave-girl  sent 
to  him  by  x\ugustus,  214;  joins 
Phraataces,  her  son,  in  assassinat- 
ing liim,  215;  reigns  in  conjunc- 
tion with  Phraataces,  220;  her  | 
head  and  titles  upon  coin-,  ib.  //. 

My  Lisa,  189 

Myrina,  309 


VAIRI    126,  127 

i^      Naphtha,  343  n 

Naples,  282 

Nearda,  241-243  i 

Nero,  youth  !;nd  chiracter  of,  on  ac- 
cession, 2(5 (')  ;  Corbulo  fears  his 
jealousy,  274  ;  he  sends  Paetus  to 
the  Kast,  ib.  ;  belii-ves  Partus'  dis- 
patches, 279 ;  receives  Tiridates 
at  Naples,  282;  invests  him  wiih 
the  sovereignty  over  Armenia, 
283  ;  troubles  which  followed  his 
death,  288 

Nicephorium,  152  n.,  327 

Nicoiiiedcs  I  ,  of  Bithynia,  38 

Nicomedes  If.,  of  Bithynia,  133 

Nicomcdes  III.,  of  Bithynia,  142  n. 

Nicoinedia,  Caracdlus  at,  351 

Niebuhr,  views  of,  25 

Nineveh,  sicnation  of,  convenient  for 
a  capital,  34 ;  on  the  line  of  Alex- 
ander's march,  156  ;  taken  by  Me- 
hevdates,  257  ;  submits  to  Trajan, 
310 

Niphates,  M.,  125 

Nisa-a,  22 

Nishapuf,  3 

Nishapur,  R.,  4,  5 

Nisibis,  included  in  the  kingdom  of 
Valarsaces,  130  ;    repulses  Lucul- 
lus,  143;    on  the  route   followed 
by  Alexander,  156;    Volagases  I 
at,  273  ;  submits  to  Trajan,  307 
fleet  built  at,  308;  revolt  it,  313 


revolt  punished,  ib.  ;  made  the 
head-quarters  of  Koinans  after 
coiKiui'st  of  Mesopotamia,  336  ; 
besieged  by  rebels,  it). ;  made  his 
heid-quarters  by  Severus.  337 ; 
raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  Roman 
colony,  and  made  tiie  capital  of 
]\[esopotamia,  ib.  ;  successfully  re- 
sists the  Pavthians,  338 ;  great 
battle  of,  358-360 


ACHUS,  R.,  43 

V-'     Octavian  {see  Augustus) 

Octavius,  officer  of  Crassiis,  escapes 
from  Carrha^  169  ;  occupies  Sin- 
naca,  ib.  ;  quits  it  to  assist  Cras- 
sus,  170;  i..volved  in  his  destruc- 
tion, 172 

Oppius  Statianus,  201 

Opus,  3(19 

Oritus,  309 

Ormazd,  398 

Ornaments,  Parthian,  387,  388 

Ornodapantes,  180 

OrnospadL'.s,  22,  234 

Oi'obazus,  Parthian  ambassador  sent 
I'y  Mithtidates  II.  to  Sulla,  135; 
said  to  have  bi  en  put  to  death  by 
Mithridates,  136 

Orodes  I.,  king  of  Paithia,  driven 
into  banishment  by  his  brother, 
Mithridates  III.,  148;  made  gov- 
ernor of  Media,  ib. ;  recalled  by 
nobles  and  made  king,  ib.  ;  his 
civil  VA'ar  with  Mitbridales,  149; 
attacked  by  Crassus,  151  ;  his  ar- 
rangements to  meet  the  attack, 
153  ;  his  embas.sy  to  Crassus,  154; 
his  appointment  of  8uieiias,  159  ; 
his  campaign  in  Armenia,  174;  he 
makes  peace  with  Artavasdes,  ib.  ; 
receives  the  head  of  Crassus,  and 
ill-treats  it,  175;  fails  to  see  the 
opportunity  of  checking  Rome 
wliich  the  defeat  of  Crassus 
offered,  177;  has  Suicnas  exe- 
cuted, ib.  ;  sends  Pacorus,  his 
eldest  son,  to  invade  Syria,  178; 
recalls  him,  180  ;   holds  communi- 

I      cations  with  Pompey.  183  ;    threat- 

'  ened  by  Julius  Csesar,  184;  lends 
troops  to  Brutus  and  Cassius,  186; 
sends  I'.icorus,  with   Labienus,  to. 


INDEX. 


449 


OKO 

invade  Syria,  187;  deeply  grieved 
by  the  death  of  Pacorus,  195  ; 
makes  his  next  son,  Phraates, 
king,  ib. ;  is  assassinated  by  him, 
196 

Orodes  11.,  221 

Orode.s,  son  of  Artabanus  III.,  put 
forward  as  a  candidate  for  the 
Armenian  throne,  224;  his  can- 
didature rejected  l)y  Germanicus, 
220;  sent  by  Artabanus  to  resist 
Pharasmanes,  232 ;  defeated  and 
supposed  to  be  slain,  233 

Orontes  valley,  33,  35,  180 

Orosius,  his  date,  98  n. 

(Jrtoadistus,  125,  130,  131 

Os  (Osethi),  291  n. 

O-saces,  178 

Osrho^iie,  situation  of,  151  ;  capital 
of,  Edes.sa,  ib,  ;  kings  of,  151, 
257,  295,  339,  350;  submits  to 
Crassus,  151 ;  sides  with  Meher- 
dates,  256;  its  sovereignty  sold  by 
Cliosroes,  294-()  ;  submits  to  Tra- 
jan, 307 ;  recovered  by  Parthia, 
316;  goes  over  to  Severus,  339; 
made  a  Roman  province  by  Cara- 
callus.  350 

Otho,  288 

Oxus,  R.,  bounded  Chora>mia  on  the 
no;  th,  9 ;  bounded  the  Aspasiacte 
on  the  soutti,  48,  75  ;  perhaps  not 
the  furthest  limit  of  the  Parthian 
empire,  79;  crossed  by  the  Scyth- 
ians, 115;  by  the  Massagetae,  118 


PACORUS  I.,  son  of  Orodes  I., 
married  to  a  daughter  of  Arta- 
vasdes,  174;  sent  by  his  father  to 
invade  Syria,  178;  tern  [i ted  to 
rebel  against  him,  180;  recalled 
to  Parthia,  ib.  ;  sent  r  sfccona  tui.s 
into  Syria.  182,  ^87;  reduces  Syria, 
188  :  invades  Palestine  and  makes 
Antigonus  king  of  the  Jews,  ib.  ; 
sends  troops  to  assist  Labienus, 
189;  retires  across  the  Euplirates, 
190;  again  appears  in  Syria,  191  ; 
met  and  defeated  by  Ventidia.s, 
192;  falls  in  the  buttle,  ib.  ;  grief 
of  Orodes  at  his  un^'T.c'.y  ^nu,  195 ; 
joint  king  for  some  years  with 
his  father,  182  n. 


Pacorus  II ,  successor  of  Volagases 
I.,  293;  date  of  his  accession, 
285,  292;  head  on  his  early  coins 
beardless,  294;  encourages  a  pre- 
tended Nero,  ib.  ;  holds  communi- 
cations with  Decebalus  of  Dacia, 
295  ;  sells  the  sovereignty  of 
Edessa,  ib.  ;  his  reign  disturbed  by 
pretenders,  296 ;  his  death,  297 

Pacorus,  brother  of  Volagases  I., 
made  king  of  Media  by  Volagases, 
262  n.  ;  attacked  by  the  Alani, 
291  ;  flies  to  the  mountains,  ib. 

Paetus  (iifjeCsesennius) 

Palestine,  71,  97,  105,  154,  188,  190, 
325  {see  Jews) 

Palus  Mfeotis,  17,  291 

Pamphylia,  189 

Pannonian  horse,  276 

Paphlagonia,  133 

Parni,  17,43,  118 

Paropamisus,  M.,  10,  11,  70 

Parrhaces,  23,  23,  258 

Parthamasiris,  son  of  Pacorus  II., 
not  allowed  to  succeed  him,  297  ; 
proposed  by  Chosrocs  as  a  candi- 
date for  the  Armenian  throne, 
301  ;  enters  into  communications 
with  Trajan,  302  ;  invited  by 
Trajan  to  visit  him  in  his  camp, 
303  ;  arrives,  and  finds  himself  in 
a  trap,  ib.  ;  his  spirited  behaviour, 
304 ;  put  to  death  by  Trajan's 
orders,  305 

Parti laraa spates,  an  Arsacid  who 
sided  with  Trajan,  314  ;  set  up  by 
Trajan  as  king  of  Parthia,  ib.  ;  ex- 
pelled from  Ctesiphon  by  Chos- 
roes,  315  ;  made  king  of  Armenia 
bv  Hadrian,  316;  attacked  there 
by  the  Alani,  320 

Parthia  Proper,  situaf'on  of,  2 ; 
limits  of,  3  ;  climate  of.  8 ;  con- 
qu3red  by  Cyrus,  26 ;  submits  to 
Alexander,  28;  falls  to  Seleucus, 
33 ;  revolts  from  the  Selcucidae, 
42. 

Parthians,  15  ;  ethnic  character  of, 
17-25  ;  institutions  of,  (j4-95  ; 
able  to  bear  cold,  101  ;  cavalry 
of,  160,  161  ;  revolt  and  establish  . 
Independence,  41-43  ;  conquer 
Hyrcania,  48 ;  defeat  Seleucus 
Callinicus,  49 ;  attack  Media,  54  • 


450 


INDEX. 


acknowledged  independent  by 
Anliochus  the  Great,  57  ;  conquer 
the  Mardi,  63 ;  pass  the  Caspian 
Gates,  and  occupy  Charax,  G5-G7  ; 
take  territory  from  Bactria,  75; 
conquer  Media,  ib.;  crush  revolt 
in  Hyrcania,  7(5 ;  conquer  Ely- 
mais,  77  ;  receive  the  submission 
of  Pci'sia  and  Biibylonia,  ib.  ;  con- 
quer Bactria,  78 ;  defeat  Deme- 
trius II.,  8;];  defeat  Antiochus 
Sidetes,  103-105;  are  defeated  by 
theScyths,  109  ;  attack  the  Scyths 
(Tochari),  but  are  defeated  again, 
132  ;  effectually  check  the  Scythian 
progress,  124;  attack  Armcnii, 
ib. ;  gain  territory  fiom  Tigranes, 
but  lose  it  again,  13-1 ;  lose  Gor- 
dyene  and  AdiabCmii,  140  ;  make 
alliance  with  Pompey  against 
Tigranes,  143  ;  ill-used  l)y  Pompey, 
145  ;  recover  Adiabene,  ib.  ;  and 
Gordyeng,  147  ;  attacked  by  the 
Romans  under  Crassus,  completely 
defeat  them,  150-172;  invade  the 
Roman  territory  under  Pacoriis, 
178;  recross  the  Euphrates,  181; 
invade  again  in  great  foice  under 
Labienus  and  Pacorus,  187 ;  defeat 
Saxa,  188  ;  overspread  Syria,  Pal- 
estine, and  Asia  Minor,  188-9; 
arc  repulsed  by  Ventidins  and 
surrender  their  conquests,  190- 
192;  vveikness  of  their  military 
system,  193  ;  are  attacked  by 
Antony,  who  invades  the  depen  • 
dentkingdom  of  Mcdi.i  Atropati^'ue, 
201  ;  completely  baffle  and  defeat 
him,  202-205  ;  make  peace  with 
Augustus,  209  ;  quarrel  uiihRome 
for  the  possession  of  Armenia,  229  ; 
make  peace  with  Tibirius,  239; 
suffer  from  inteinul  troubles,  241- 
201  ;  claim  and  seize  Armenia,  26G ; 
cmtend  with  Rome  for  it,  267- 
280;  retain  it,  284;  lose  Hyrcania 
by  revolt  (?),  2^6 ;  suffi'r  from  the 
attacks  of  the  Alani,  291  ;  attacked 
by  Trajan,  lose  Armenia,  Mesopo- 
tamia, and  AdiabC-ne,  801-315; 
recover  the  last  two  by  tiie  volun- 
tary cession  of  Hadrian,  316; 
attacked  a  second  time  by  the 
Alani,   320;  seize  Anuenia,  334; 


invade  Syria  and  Palestine,  335; 
severely  punished  by  xVvidius  Cas- 
sius,  336-328  ;  lose  Western  Meso- 
potamia, 339  ;  enter  on  thiidperiod 
of  decline,  330  ;  favour  the  cause 
of  Niger,  335  ;  are  attacked  by 
Severus,  336  ;  attack  him  in  turn, 
338  ;  recover  Adiabene  and  Meso- 
])0tamia,  ib. ;  a':!;ain  lose  them, 
340;  lose  Ctesiphon,  341;  allow 
Severus  to  retreat  unmolested, 
345 ;  suffer  at  the  hands  of 
Caracallus,  354-356 ;  defeat  Mac- 
rinus,  358-3'iO  ;  make  an  honour- 
able peace  with  Rome,  360;  lose 
their  empire  to  tht-  revolted  Per- 
sians, 366-368.  Architecture  of, 
371-  384;  art  of,  385-397  ;  religion 
of,  308-41)  I ;  manners  and  customs 
of,  403-4n5 

ParthySne,  3 

Parthwa,  15 

Pedo,  M.  Virgihanus,  308 

Perdiccas,  31 

Pergamus,  30,  133 

Persia  Proper,  comprised  in  the 
empii'e  of  Seleucus  Nicator,  33  ; 
submits  to  Ptolemy  Euergetes, 
47 ;  recovered  by  Syria,  ib.  ;  sub- 
mits to  M  thridates  I.  of  Parthia, 
77  ;  revolts  and  supports  Deme- 
trius Nicator,  82  ;  governed  gene- 
rally by  a  tributary  king,  87  ; 
treated  with  exceptional  favour  by 
Parthians,  365:  dissatisfud,  361- 
3(;3 ;  revolts  under  Artaxerxes  and 
becomes  independent,  366  ;  scene 
of  struggle  between  Artaxerxes 
and  Aj'tabanus,  367 

Persians,  submit  to  Parthians,  77; 
revolt  and  establish  their  inde- 
pendence, 366  ;  conquer  Parthia 
and  establish  an  empire,  367 

Pcrusia,  siege  of,  187 

Pescennius  Ni^er,  sets  himself  upas 
emperor,  333  ;  assisted  by  Vola- 
gases  IV.,  334;  defeated  and  slain 
by  Severus,  336 

Peshawur,  61 

Pestilence,  328,  329 

Pharasmanes  T.,  king  of  Iberia,  in- 
duced by 'i'iberiustoattaek  Parthia, 
231  ;  conquers  Armeoia,  and  places 
his  brother,    Mithridates,    on  the 


INDEX. 


451 


tlirone,  232  ;  nicaintains  his  ground 
against  Orodes,  238  ;   suggests  the 
seizure   of   Arnieniii    to    his    son, 
Rhadamistus,   2(53 ;    has   deahngs 
with  Corbulo,  2G9;  receives  from 
Corl)ulo  an  augmentation  of   his 
territories,  270 
Pharasmanes  II.,  king  of  Iljeria,  re- 
fuses  to   pay  court   to   Hadrian, 
320;  insulted   by  Hadii.m  in    re- 
turn, il).  ;  induces  the  Alani  to  in- 
vade Armenia  and  Media  Atropa- 
tene.      ih.  ;     mildly     treated     by 
Hadrian,  321 
Pliarniipates.  190 
Pherecles,  43 
Phil-Hellene,   a    title     of    Parthian 

kings,  89 
Philip,  73,  75,  81 
Philippi,  battle  of,  186 
Phcenicia,  141 

Phraataces,  son  of  Phraates  IV., 
and  Musa,  214;  poisons  his  father, 
215  ;  ascends  the  Parthian  throne, 
217;  defies  Augustus,  218;  has 
interview  with  ("aius,  219;  places 
his  mother's  head  and  titles  on  his 
coins,  220;  ollends  his  subjects, 
221  ;  is  put  to  death,  ib. 
Phraates  I.,  king  of  Parthia,  son  and 
successor  of  Priapaiius,  63;  at- 
tacks the  Mardians,  ib.  ;  reduces 
them,  64;  invades  Media  Pihagi- 
ana,  65 ;  places  a  portion  of  the 
newly  conquered  Mardians  at 
Cliarax,  67;  appoints  his  brother, 
Mithiidates,  his  successor,  ib. ; 
called  'Phiiadelphus'  on  his  coin.s, 
68  ;  coins  of,  63,  68  n. 
Phraates  II.,  king  of  Partliia.  son 
and  successor  of  Mithri  lates  I., 
96;  treats  Demetrius  Nicator  with 
kindness,  ib. ;  at'acked  by  Anti- 
ochus  Sidetes,  98 ;  suffers  three 
defeats,  100;  has  recourse  to  strat- 
agem, 101;  amuses  Sideies  with 
negotiations,  103;  contrives  a 
massacre  of  the  invaders  in  their 
winter  quarters,  ib.  ;  defeats  Si- 
detes, who  falls  in  the  battle,  104  ; 
destro3's  the  whole  of  his  army, 
105 ;  having  released  Demetrius 
previously,  tries  to  recapture  him, 
106;    marries   a  daughter  of  De- 


metrius,  107 ;    quarrels  with    his 
Scythian    auxiliaries,    108 ;    com- 
mits  the  government  of  Babylon 
to  Himerus,  ib.  ;  killed  in  a  bat'le 
against   the    Scythians,    109;    his 
character,  109,  110 
Phraates  III.,  kin<j;   of  Parthia,   son 
and  successor  of  Sanaticeces,  143  ; 
makes  alliance  with   Pompey,  ib.  : 
wars  with  Tigranes  the  Great,  144; 
ill-used     by   Pompey,    145 ;    con- 
cludes   a    disadvantageous    peace 
with  Tigranes,    147;    assassinated 
by  his  sons,  Mithridates  and  Oro- 
des, ib. 
Phraates  IV.,  king  of  Parthia,  son  of 
Orodes,  195;    made  king  by  him. 
ib.  ;  assassinates  his  brothers,  ib.  ; 
assassinates  his  father,  Kni ;  treats 
his   subjects    h.nshly,    198;    con- 
spired   against    by  Monasses,  ib.  ; 
attacked    by   Antony,    199;    frus- 
trates   Antimy's    expedition,   200- 
204  ;   quarrels  with   Artavasdes  of 
Media,    205;    attacks   and  defeats 
him,  207  ;  renews  his  rruelties,208 ; 
is  driven  from  his  kingdom,  ib.  ; 
recovers  his  throne  by  the  help  of 
the  Scyths,  ib,  ;   establishes  fiiend- 
ly  relations  with  Augustus.  209; 
sends  four  of  his  sons   to   Ronic, 
211  ;  offends  Augustus  by  interfer- 
ing with  affairs   in   Armenia,  212; 
dies,   214;     leaves    his    crown     to 
Phraataces,  his  son  by  Musa,  ib. ; 
his  character,  215,  216 

Phraates,  son  of  Phraates  IV.,  sent 
to  reside  in  Rome  by  his  father, 
211;  -sought  as  their  king  by  the 
Parthians,  229  ;  proceeds  to  Syria, 
230  ;  adopts  the  Parthian  mode  of 
life,  231  ;  dies,  ib. 

Phraortes,  129 

Phriapites,  42 

Phrygia,  comprised  in  the  empire  of 
Seleucus  Nicatnr,  32;  jealousy  le- 
tained  by  the  early  Seleucid  prin- 
ces 37  ;  supposed  primitive  country 
of  the  Armenians,  128 ;  part  of, 
ceded  by  Rome  to  Mithridates  IV. 
of  Pontus,  132;  seized  by  Rome 
during  minoritv  of  Mithridates  V., 
142 

Phrygiins,  127 


452 


INDEX. 


Piperne,  6 

Piso,  governor  of  Syria,  227  n. 

Pissuri,  118 

Pitane,  309 

Pitthides,  110  n. 

Plancinia,  wife  ot  Piso,  227  n. 

Polemo  I.,  king  of  Pontus,  sent  as 
ambassador  to  Antony  by  Artavas- 
des  of  Media  Atropatgne,  205;  re- 
warded I)y  Antony  with  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Le-ser  Armenia, 
206  n.  ;  his  son,  Zeno,  226 

Polemo  TL,  king  of  Pontus,  270 

Polvbius,  74 

Polytiinetus,  R.,  114 

Poniaxajthres,  172  n. 

Pompeiopolis,  227 

Pom[)ey  the  Great,  makes  alliance 
with  Phraa'es  III.,  143;  treats  him 
unfairly,  145  ;  arbitrates  between 
him  and  Tigranes,  147  ;  patronises 
Ptolemy  Auletes,  148;  negotiates 
with  OroJes  [.,  183;  contemplates 
taking  refuge  with  him,  ib.  ; 
powers  granted  him  by  the  Gabi- 
nian  liw,  280  n. 

Pompey,  Sext.,  186  ?i. 

Pompedius  Silo,  190 

Pontus,  a  separate  kingdom  as  early 
as  Ijattle  of  Ipsus,  30;  in  alliance 
with  Homo  under  Mithridates  IV., 
132;  injm'ed  by  Rome  during 
minority  of  Mithridates  V.,  142  ; 
becomes  a  great  empire  under 
Mithridates  V.,  133;  inspires 
Rome  and  Parthia  with  a  common 
fear,  131;  carries  on  tremendous 
struggle  with  Rome,  140 ;  forced 
to  su'imit  by  Lu(;ullus  and  Poin- 
pey,  143,  144;  cuitaiiel  kingdom 
of,  given  to  Polemo,  205  n. ;  placed 
und'jr  the  authority  of  Pietus, 
275; 

Praaspa,  cajjital  of  Media  AtropatGne, 
201 ;  situation  of,  ib.  n. ;  besieged 
by  Antony,  202;  siege  of,  fails, 
203 

Pr.'etoi'ians  at  Ro:nc,  283 

Priapatiiis,  king  of  Parthia,  succeeded 
Artabanus  I.,  59;  reigned  fiftien 
years,  ili.  ;  lived  at  peace  with  his 
neighbours,  63 ;  succeeded  by  his 
son,  Piirajites  I.,  ib. 

Probus,  117 


ROM 

Pseudo  Nero,  294 

Pseudo-Smerdis,  15 

Ptolemy  I.,  32,  35 

Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  38 

Ptolemy  Euergete.s,  46 

Ptolemy  V.,  71 

Ptolemy  Auteles,  148 

Punjaub,  included  in  dominions  of 
Alexander,  60  ;  recovers  indepen- 
dence, ib. ;  invaded  by  Seleucus 
Nicator,  61  ;  ruled  by  Sandracot- 
tus,  ib.  n.  ;  invaded  by  Demetrius 
of  Bactria,  62  ;  held  by  his  son, 
Eucratidas,  71 ;  and  perhaps  by 
other  princes  of  his  family,  71  ft. 

Pyramus,  R.,  227 


AUIETUS,  L.,  813 


RAKKAII,  152  n. 
Religion  of  the  Parthians,  898- 
401 

Remanen,  supposed  to  be  Armenians, 
125  n. 

Rhadamistus,  son  of  Pharasmancs  of 
Iberia,  advised  by  his  father  to 
seize  Armenia,  263 ;  murders  his 
uncle  Mithridates,  and  becomes 
king,  ib.  ;  attacked  and  driven 
from  his  kingdom  by  Volagases  I., 
264  ;  recovers  it,  ib.  ;  again  driven 
out,  266 

Rhages,  65,  93 

Rhagiana,  65 

Rhodaspes,  son  of  Phraates  IV.,  sent 
to  reside  in  Rome  by  his  father, 
211  ;  his  name  in  an  inscription, 
ib.  V.  ;  perhaps  the  father  of  Tiri- 
dates  II  ,  231  n. 

Rhodes,  Tiberius  at,  213 

Rhodogune,  daughter  of  Mithridates 
I.,  king  of  Parthia,  promised  by 
hirn  to  Demetrius  Nicator,  83 ; 
married  to  Demetrius,  96;  has 
several  childi-en,  107 

Rhoxalatn'.  meaning  of,  291  n. 

Romans,  72,  105;  first  contact  with 
Parthia,  131-136;  general  distrust 
of,  142,  143;  wage  war  with  Mith- 
ridates v.,  and  Tigranes,  ib. ;  make 


INDEX. 


453 


alliance  with  Parthia,  143;  ill-use 
her,  145  ;  invade  Parthia  under 
Crassiis  without  just  cause,  150 ; 
suffer  a  complete  defeat,  1G4-172; 
are  attacked  in  turn  by  the  Par- 
tliians,  178  ;  repulse  them,  180  ; 
are  again  attacked  after  Philijipi, 
187 ;  lose  Syria,  Palestine,  and 
most  of  Asia  Minor,  188,  189;  re- 
cover iheni  and  drive  out  the  Par- 
thians,  190,  192  ;  c mtend  with 
Parthia  for  influence  over  Armenia, 
195,  21?.-218,  224-233,  263-284; 
attempt  to  conquer  Parthia  under 
Trajan,  299-312;  attempt  fails, 
313-310;  attacked  by  Volagases 
I II.,  324;  repel  the  attack,  invade 
Parthia,  and  conquer  Mesopotamin, 
325-330;  again  invade  Parthia 
under  Severus,  337-345  ;  conquer 
Adiabene,  346  ;  treacherously  at- 
tack Parthia  under  Cararallus, 
355  ;  are  defeated  under  Macrinus, 
358-360 ;  make  a  dishonourable 
peace,  300 

Rostra,  at  Rome,  283 

Rum-Kaleh,  155  n. 


CABARIS,  128  n. 

O     Sacastane,  33,  117 

Sacauracaj,  139 

Sagartia,  11,  15,  33 

Saka,  117,  118,  120  {see  Scyths) 

Sakarauh,  118 

Samarkand,  115 

Sambulos,  M.,  258 

Samosata  (now  Sumeisat),  276  «., 
289  ;  Trajan  at,  302 

Sanatroeces,  king  of  Parthia,  not  the 
successor  of  Mithridaies  IT.,  137  ; 
variant  forms  of  his  name,  138; 
perhaps  a  son  of  Mitliridates  I  , 
139  )i.  ;  helped  to  his  crown  by  the 
Scythians,  139  n.  ;  difficulties  of 
his  situation.  140-142  ;  refuse  aid 
to  Mitliri  iates  of  Pontus,  143; 
offends  Lucullus,  ib.  ;  dies,  ib. 

Sandricottus,  GO,  62 

Sarangia,  11,  15,  33 

Saraucae.  118 

Sardis,  38 

Sar^^onid  dynasty,  120 


Sarmatians,  232 

Sassanian.s,  rise  of,  371  ;  architecture 
of,  373,  382 ;  art  of,  coarse  and 
gi'otcsque,  390 

Sauromatte,  906 

Satala,  3(»3 

Scythic  cap,  91 

Scyths,  17,  19;  incursion  of,  71; 
furnish  mercenaries  to  Phraates  I., 
99  ;  quarrel  with  him,  108  ;  defeat 
and  kill  him,  109;  quit  Parthia, 
113;  causes  of  their  unsettled 
state,  115,  116;  conquer  Parthia. 
Ariana,  and  Saraugia,  117;  pene- 
trate to  Kabul  and  the  valley  of 
the  Indus,  118  ;  their  tribes  at  this 
period,  ib.  ;  character  of  their 
barbarism,  119;  attacked  byArta- 
banus  IL,  defeat  and  kill  him, 
121,  122;  their  further  advance 
effectually  checked  by  Mitliridates 
II.,  124  ;  assistance  given  by  them 
to  Sanatroeces,  139  ;  to  Phraates 
IV.,  208 ;  assist  Pharasmanes  of 
Iberia,  232;  assist  Artabanus  III. 
against  Tiridates,  237 ;  invade 
Parthia  Proper,  205 

Sebzawar,  9 

Seistan,  118,  124 

Seistan,  Sea  of,  11 

Seleucia  (Syrian),  105  n. 

Seleucia,  buiit  by  Seleucus  Nicator, 
34  ;  situation  of,  ib.  ;  importance 
of,  88  ;  how  governed,  89  ;  Ctesi- 
phon,  opposite  to,  92  ;  revolts  from 
Orodes,  149  ;  reduced  by  Surenns, 
159  ;  e  itered  by  Surenas  in  tri- 
umph, 170  ;  gives  refuge  to  Vono- 
nes  I.,  223  :  quitted  by  him,  224; 
has  its  constitution  modified  by 
Tiridates  II.,  235;  massacre  of 
Jews  at,  244;  revolt  of,  from  Ar- 
taljanus  III.,  248  ;  besieged  by 
Vardancs  I.,  251  ;  reduced,  253; 
su'jmits  to  Trajan,  311  ;  revolts, 
313;  taken  and  burnt  by  Avidius 
Cassius,  327,  328  ;  subnu'ts  to  Se- 
verus, 340 

Seleucians,  112,  248,  251 

Seleucus  Nicator,  founds  the  Syro- 
Macedonian  empire,  31  ;  his  pre- 
vious career,  31,  32  ;  extent  of  his 
territories,  33 ;  his  successive 
capitals,  34,  35  ;     his  quarrel  with 


454 


INDEX. 


Ptolemy  Lasri  37  ,  his  expedition 
across  the  Indus,  60  ;  his  peace 
with  Sandracottiis,  61  ;  Armenia 
siib:iiits  to  him,  129 

Seleucus  Callimcus,  defeated  by 
Ptolemy  Energetes,  47 ;  his  terri- 
tories overrun,  ib.  ;  recovers  them, 
ib.  ;  attacked  by  Tiridates  1.  of 
Parthia,  48  ;  marches  to  the  Ea^^t, 
ib.  ;  drives  T  ridates  from  his 
kingdom,  but  is  afterwards  com- 
pletely defeated  by  him,  49;  re- 
called to  Syiia  by  the  intrigues  of 
his  brother,  Antiochus  Hierax,  52 

Seleucus  TV.,  04,  130 

Seleucus  v.,  10.5,  107 

Scljukian  Turks,  193 

Senate,  Roman,  283 

Seraspadtincs,  211.  231  n. 

Scsoslris,  17 

Severianu-:,  324 

Severus,  Septimius,  proclaimed  em- 
peror in  Pannonia,  333  ;  acknow- 
ledged at  Rome,  334  ;  defeat-;  Pes- 
cennius  Niger,  330  ;  invades  Meso- 
potamia, il>.  ;  reduces  it,  337;  re- 
duces Adi  ibene,  il).  ;  returns  to 
Rome  and  crushes  Albinus,  838  ; 
again  visi's  the  East,  ib. ;  drives 
the  Pai'thians  out  of  Syria,  ib. ; 
forces  Armenia  to  sub:nit  to  him, 
389;  receives  the  sulnnission  of 
O.srhoene,  ib. ;  re  conquers  Meso- 
potamia and  Adial)ene,  340;  takes 
liabylou  and  Seleucia,  ib. ;  takes 
Ctvsiphon,  341 ;  re[)ulsed  from 
Ilatra  343-345 ;  dies  at  Yoi'k, 
347 

Shal.-Rud,  3 

Shapiu",  ruins  of,  383 

Shebri-No,  3 

Shikarpoor,  01 

Sicilian  Vespers,  102 

Silanu.s,  224 

Si  1  laces,  178 

Simon,  Iligh-priest  of  the  Jews,  97 

Singara,  taken  by  Trajan,  306 

Sinjar,  M.,  102,  307,  1535 

Siimaca,  109 

Sinnace.s,  21,  230,  234 

Sippaia  (xi'c-  Sura) 

Sir-pul  i-Zoliab,  reliefs  at,  390-392 

Sit  tacene,  235 

Siiu;:;,  Ri)man  use  of  the,  194 


Sosemns,  king  of  Armenia  under 
Roman  prot(^ction,  324;  driven 
from  his  throne  by  Volagases  III., 
ilx ;  reinstated  by  the  Romans, 
326 

Sogdiana,  joined  with  Parthia  in  the 
Persian  in.scriptions,  15 ;  at  one 
time  united  in  the  same  satrapy 
with  Partliia,  27;  included  in  the 
empire  of  Seleucus  N?oator,  33; 
occupied  by  Scythians,  11^^ 

Sogdians,  16, '21,  22 

Sohemus,  267  v. 

Soli  {see  Pompeiopolis) 

Sophagasenus,  62 

Sopheng,  140,  207  n. 

Sophi,  85 

Statianus,  201,  202,  205  n. 

Statius  Priscus,  general  of  Vcrus, 
325  ;  reduces  Ai  menia,  326 

Statuette,  Parthian,  386 

Su,  115 

Sulla,  135 

Sunbulah,  M.^  258 

Surq,  (Sippara?),  battle  at,  327 

Surena,  meaning  of  the  word,  23; 
duties  of  the  office,  80'  235 

Surenas,  used  as  a  pro()er  name  by 
the  Greek  writei  s,  159  n. ;  only 
name  given  to  the  gt-neral  employed 
against  Cris-us,  159;  his  pre- 
vious exploits,  ib.  ;  his  advance  to 
meet  theRoman,s,  102;  how  farin- 
debtt-d  to  Augustus  ^^'^  \  his  dis- 
position of  his  troops,  104 ;  his  at- 
tack and  victory,  105-7;  his  pur- 
suit of  the  retreating  army,  108- 
170;  his  treacherous  seizure  oi' 
Crassus,  171;  his  triumphal  en- 
try into  Seleucia,  170  ;  his  death, 
177 

Susa,  34,  812  n. 

Susiana,  included  in  the  empire  oi 
Seieucuis  Nicator,  33 ;  conquered 
by  Mitluidatos  1.  of  Parthia,  77; 
character  of  the  region,  80 ;  in- 
vaded by  Romans,  312  n. 

Susianians,  127 

Sutlej,  R.,  62 

Syria,  becomes  a  distinct  kingdom, 
31);  falls  to  Seleucia  Nicator,  31  ; 
duration  of  kingdom,  ib. :  c.xhau^- 
ti(m  of,  after  war  of  Antiochus 
the   Great  with    Rome,     04;     cli- 


INDEX. 


455 


mate  of,  101;  decline  of,  105; 
threatened  by  Pliraat.s  II.,  107; 
falls  under  the  dominion  of  Ti- 
granes,  141  ;  is  a  Roman  province 
under  Gabinius,  1-48;  is  ravaged 
by  the  Pavthians,  179,  188;  is 
recovered  by  Yentidius,  190  ;  is 
visited  by  Germanicus,  220  ;  is 
assigned  to  Vitellius,  228 ;  gov- 
erned by  C.  Cassius,  25  <)  ;  threat- 
ened by  Volagases  I.,  278  ;  pro- 
tected by  Coibulo,  274;  invadid 
by  Volagases  III.,  325  ;  recovered 
by  Avidiiis  Cassius,  326 ;  visited 
by  M.  Aurelius,  331  ;  invaded  by 
Volagases  IV.,  338 ;  recovered  by 
Severus,  ib. 

Syrian  Gates,  190 

Syrians,  244 

Syrinx,  57  n. 

Syro-Macedonian  kingdom,  founded 
by  Seleueus  Nicator,  32;  its  ex- 
tent and  products,  33  ;  its  capital, 
35 ;  iis  weak  organisation,  3() ;  its 
wars  with  Egvpt,  and  Asia  Minor, 
37 ;  its  early  kings,  37-39 ;  it 
lose-;  Baciria  by  revolt,  40  ;  loses 
Parlhia,  42  ;  is  attacked  by 
Ptolemy  Euergetes,  47 ;  loses 
Hyrcania  to  Paithia,  48;  attempts 
to  recover  Pai  thia,  but  fails.  48- 
51;  its  internal  troubles,  52,  54; 
it  is  attacked  by  Artabanus  I.,  54  ; 
repulses  him,  55;  attaclcs  him  in 
return,  50  ;  overruns  Partiiia, 
and  attacks  Hyrcania,  57  ;  allows 
the  independence  of  I^arthia,  ib.  ; 
attacks  Hactria.  58;  fails  of  suc- 
ces.s,  59  ;  loses  the  .Mardian  country 
to  Parthia,  61  ;  loses  part  of  Rha- 
giana,  65 ;  engaged  in  war  with 
Egypt,  71  ;  and  Judiea,  72 ;  be- 
comes a  prey  to  civil  disturi;ance, 
73 ;  loses  Media  Magna  to  Par- 
thia,  76 ;  loses  Susiana,  Persia, 
and  Rabylonia,  77 ;  probably  also 
Sagartia,  Gedrosia,  Carmania,  and 
Assyria,  79;  makes  an  attempt  to 
crush  Parthia,  which  completely 
fails,  81-83  ;  puts  down  Jewish 
independence-,  98  ;  makes  another 
attempt  to  reduce  Parlhia,  which 
again  fails,  98-105  ;  loses  Cilicia, 
Tyre  and  Sidon,  105  ?i. ;  falls  into 


anarchy,  106 ;  occupied  by  Ti- 
granes  of  Armenia,  141;  in  b.c, 
65  is  made  a  Roman  province,  106 


TAB^,  73 
1     Tabriz,  204 

Tacitus,  228,  25T 

■Jadjiks,  25 

Takht-i-B<.stan,  383 

Takht-i-Khuzroo,  380,  383 

Takht-i-Suleiiiian,  201  n.,  203  n.^ 
204 

Tambraca,  57  ??.  i 

Tanais,  R.,  291 

Tape,  93 

Tarsus,  290 

Taurus,  M.,  191,  275,  276 

Tebbes,  11 

Tejend,  R.,  5,  9 

Temple,  Jewish,  plundered  by  Anti- 
ochus  Epiphanes,  80  ;  by  Crassus, 
159  n. 

Temple  of  the  Sun  at  Ilatra.  343 

Ten  Thousand,  the,  205 

Tengh-i-Saoulek,  bas-relieis  at,  392- 
396 

Teraphim,  Parthian,  400 

Terslieez,  3,  4,  5 

Thamana^ans,  21 

Thapsacus,  156  n. 

Theocritus,  a  general  of  Caracallus, 
351 

Theopator,  a  title  of  Parthian  kings, 
91 

ThianChan,  M.,  113 

Thibet,  115 

Thermiisa  (xce  Musa) 

Theus,  title  of  kings,  39,  91 

Thrace,  292 

Tiberius  Csesar,  receives  back  the 
standards  tiken  bv  Parthia  from 
Crassus,  209  n.]  follows  the 
policj^  of  Augustus,  210;  sent  by 
Augustus  in  i?.c.  20  to  arrange 
the  affairs  of  Armenia,  212;  goes 
into  retirement  at  Rhodes,  213; 
receives  embassy  from  Artabanus 
III.,  224;  sends  Germanicus  to 
settle  the  affiiirs  of  the  East,  225; 
foments  rebe'lion  in  Parlhia,  229- 
231  ;  encourages  Pharasmunes  of 
Ibeiia  to  attick  Artabanus,  231; 
iustructs  Vitellius  to  make  peace 


456 


INDEX. 


with  Artabanus,  238  ;  peace  made, 
239  ;  dies,  ib. 

Tigranes  the  Great,  sent  as  a  host- 
age to  the  Court  of  Parthia,  131; 
aided  by  Parthia  in  obtaining  the 
Armenian  throne,  134;  cedes 
teiritory  to  Parthia,  but  later  in 
his  reign  recovers  it,  ib.  ;  makes 
alhance  with,  Mithridates  the 
Great,  of  Poutus,  133  ;  makes  raid 
into  Parthia,  134  ;  conquers  Upper 
Mesopotamia,  135  ;  conquers  Ar- 
menia Minor,  Adiabune,  and  Media 
Atropatene,  140  ;  becomes  king  of 
Syria,  141  ;  acquires  dominion 
over  Cihcia  and  Plioenicia,  ib.  ; 
builds  new  capital,  Tigranocerta, 
ib.  ;  attacked  by  Phraates  III.,  144 ; 
submits  to  Pompey,  ib. 

Tigranes,  grandson  of  Archelaiis  of 
Cappadocia,  made  king  of  Ar- 
menia, by  the  Romans,  270 ;  at- 
tacked by  Parthians,  273 ;  his 
native  adversaries  punished  by 
Corbulo,  280 

Tigranes  the  younger,  son  of  Tigranes 
the  Great,  144 

Tigranes,  brother  of  ArtaxiasII.,  212 

Tigranes,  made  king  of  Armenia  by 
Voiagases  III.,  324 

Tigrania,  128  n. 

Tigranocerta,  built  by  Tigranes  the 
Great,  141  ;  situation  of,  ib.  n.  ; 
efforts  made  to  render  it  popu- 
lous, ib.  ;  submits  to  Tiridates, 
261;  taken  by  the  Romans,  270; 
unsuccessfully  attacked  by  the 
Parthians,  273 

Tigris,  R.,  125 

Tilor  Tilleli,  257,  308  7i. 

Tiinarchus,  39 

Tiridates  I.,  king  of  Parthia,  ac- 
counts of  his  youth,  42,  43;  be- 
comes king,  45;  conquers  llyr- 
cania,  48;  driven  from  his  king- 
dom b}'  Seleucus  Callinicus,  ib.  ; 
returns  and  defeats  Callinicus,  49  ; 
builds  Dara,  53  ;  dies,  54 

Tiridates,  rebels  against  Phraates 
IV.,  208 

Tiridates,  grandson  of  Phraates  IV., 
231  ;  becomes  king,  235 

Tiridates,  brother  of  Voiagases  I., 
Bon    of   Vononcs    II.,  202 ;  made 


king  of  Armenia  by  Voiagases, 
264 ;  driven  out,  ib. ;  re-estab- 
hshed,  266  ;  governs  harshly,  269  ; 
driven  out  a  second  time,  270 ; 
complains  of  his  brother's  inert- 
ness, 271  ;  again  otabhshed  as 
king,  279 ;  consents  to  receive 
investiture  from  Rome,  281  ;  goes 
to  Rome,  282 ;  and  is  magnifi- 
cently received  by  Nero,  283 ; 
returns  to  Asia,  ib. ;  attacked, 
and  nearly  killed  by  the  Alani, 
292  ;  dies,  299 

Tiridates,  an  Armenian  prince,  351  n. 

Titius,  Marcus,  211  n. 

Titus,  288,  292 

Tochari,  i'nhabit  country  between 
upper  Jaxartes  and  upper  Oxus, 
118;  a  Scythic  tribe,  120;  at- 
tacked by  Artabanus  II.,  121 ; 
defeat  him,  122 

Tokharestan,  118 

Tomyris,  175  n. 

Toun,  11 

Trajan,  object  of  his  wars  on  the 
Danube,  117;  conquers  Dacia, 
299 ;  proceeds  to  the  East,  301 ; 
receives  embassy  from  Chosioes, 
ib.  ;  entraps  Paithamasiris,  303 ; 
has  him  killed,  305  ;  makes  Ar- 
menia a  Roman  province,  306 ; 
conquers  Mesopotamia,  307 ;  builds 
fleet  at  Nisibis,  308 ;  in  danger 
from  great  earthquake,  ib.  ;  con- 
quers Adiabene,  310  ;  takes  Hatra, 
Babylon,  and  Seleucia,  311  ;  takes 
Ctesiphon,  312 ;  descends  Tigris 
to  Persian  Gulf,  313  ;  forced  to 
retreat,  314;  makes  Parthamas- 
pates  king  at  Ctesiphon,  314 ; 
repulsed  from  Hatra,  315 ;  dies, 
ib. 

Triparadisus,  31 

Tryphon,  82,  97,  98 

Turan,  20 

Turanians,  19,  75,  127 

Turiiia,  75 

Turkomans,  9,  19,  24 

Turks,  resemble  the  Parthians,  25, 
245;  Seljukian,  193 

Tyras,  R.,  133 

Tyre,  revolts  from  Syro-Mace- 
donians,  105  n.  ;  resists  Pacorus, 
188 


INDEX. 


457 


UEWANIKTF,  site  of  Charax.  67 
Uiiimidius,     prefect    of    Syrii, 
267 
Urardn,  126,  127 
Urumiyeh,  L.,  126,  203  n. 
U-siun,  115 


yALARSACES  of  Armenia,  ISO 
'       Van,  old  capital  of  Urarda,  126 

Vardanes  I.,  reign  of,  249,  254  ;  coin 
of,  250 

Vardanes  II.,  revolt  of,  268 ;  coin 
of,  269 

Vasaces,  22,  23 

Vases,  Parthian,  387 

Velleius  Paterculus,  219  7i. 

Ventidius,  P..  defeats  Parthians,  189; 
allowed  a  triumph,  197 

Vera,  201  it. 

Verus,  L.,  adopted  by  M.  Aurelius, 
324 ;  sent  to  the  East,  325  ;  his 
inaction,  326  ;  successes  of  his 
generals,  327,  328  ;  his  disastrous 
return  to  Rome,  329 ;  results  of 
his  expedition,  330 

Vespasian,  becomes  a  candidate  for 
the  imperial  crown,  288;  aid 
offered  him  by  Voiagases  I.,  ib. ; 
declined,  ib.;  persuaded  by  Cae<en- 
nius  Prtjtus  that  rebellion  is  mimi- 
neiit  in  Commagene,  289  ;  allows 
Paetus  to  make  Commagene  a  pro- 
vince, 291  ;  receives  letter  from 
Voiagases,  ib  ;  treats  the  Com- 
mageiiian  princes  mildly,  291  ;  de- 
clines to  aid  Voiagases  against  the 
Alaiii,  292. 

Vitellius,  L.,  made  proconsul  of 
Syria  by  Tiberius,  228;  commis- 
sion enlarged,  231;  tlireatens 
Mesopotamia,  233  ;  introduces 
Tiridates  II.  into  his  kingdom, 
234;  throws  troops  across  the 
Euphrates.  237;  makes  peace  with 
Aitabaruis  III.,  239 

VitaxjTp,  87 

Virgilianus  (see  Pedo) 

Voiagases  I.,  son  and  successor  of 
Vononcs  II.,  261 ;  gives  Media 
to  his  brother  Pacorus,  262 ;  de- 
sires Armenia  for  his  other  bro- 
ther, Tiridates,  263;  invades  Ar- 
menia,     and     makes    him    king, 


VOL 
264 ;  relinquishes  his  conquest, 
ib. ;  his  war  with  Izates,  265; 
is  attacked  ijy  Scyths,  ib.  ;  re- 
pul>es  them,  ib.  ;  re-occu]M(  s  Ar- 
menia and  re-establishes  Tiridates, 
266;  negotiates  with  Corbulo, 
267  ;  has  struggle  with  his  son, 
Vardanes,  268;  is  attncked  by 
Corbulo,  269  ;  loses  Hyrcauia  by 
revolt,  270 ;  loses  Armenia,  ib.  ; 
finds  himself  in  ill  odour  with  his 
subjects,  271  ;  addiesses  them, 
272;  invades  Armenia,  273;with- 
draws  his  troops,  ib. ;  attacks 
and  defeats  Paetus,  275-277  ;  ne- 
gotiates with  Nero,  279  ;  makes 
peace  with  Corbulo,  281 ;  terms 
of  the  ])eace  advantageous  to  Par- 
thia,  284  and  n.;  otters  to  assist 
Vespasian,  288  ;  sends  to  congra- 
tulate Titus,  ib.  ;  writes  to  Ves- 
pasian on  behalf  of  princes  of 
Commagene,  2ii0;  attacked  by 
the  Alani,  asks  aid  of  Vespasian, 
and  is  nfused,  291,  292  ;  dies,  292 ; 
his  character,  293 

Voiagases  II.,  supposed  early  coin 
of,  296  n.  ;  succeeds  Chosroes, 
317  ;  wrongly  called  his  son,  318; 
attacked  by  the  Alani,  320;  buys 
peace,  321  ;  s^  nds  embassy  to  con- 
gratulate Antoninus  Pius,  ib.  ; 
demands  the  restoration  of  the 
golden  throne,  322 ;  demand  re- 
fused, ib.  ;  dies,  323 

A^olagases  III.,  succeeds  Voiagases 
II.,  323  ;  mediUites  war  with 
Rome,  ib.  ;  seizes  Armenia  and 
makes  Tigranes  king,  324;  in- 
vades Syria  and  Palestine,  325 ; 
defeated  by  Avidius  Cassius  near 
Europus,  326 ;  attacked  in  his 
own  dominions  by  Avidius,  327 ; 
defeated  at  Sura,  ib.  ;  his  palace 
at  Ctesiphon  burnt,  328 ;  loses 
AVestern  Mesopotamia,  329 ;  con- 
templates an  attack  on  Rome, 
331  ;  sends  embas.sy  to  M.  Aure- 
lius, 332  ;  remains  at  peace  with 
Commodus,  ib,  ;  dies,  ib. 

Voiagases  IV.  succeeds  Voiagases 
111.,  333;  receives  application  for 
aid  from  Pescennius  Niger,  334 ; 
allows   his  vassals  to  render  aid, 


458 


INDEX. 


VOL 

and  thereby  oflFends  Severus,  335  ; 
attacked  by  Severus,  336  ;  loses 
Mesopo';amia  and  Adiabene,  337  ; 
recovers  them,  333;  loses  them 
a  se>Jond  tune,  340 ;  defeated  by 
Severus,  lose^  his  capital,  ib. ; 
seeks  safety  in  flight,  341  ;  his 
strange  inaction,  3i5;  length  of 
his  reign,  346  ;  his  death,  347 

Volagase-^  V.,  son  of  Volagases  IV., 
contend -i  with  his  brother  Arta- 
banus  IV.,  348  ;  acknowledged  as 
king  of  Parlhia  by  Caracallus,  349  ; 
sinxs  into  the  position  of.a  pre- 
ten  Icr,  350 

Volagises,  of  Armenia,  submits  to 
Severus,  339 

Vologesoaerta,  93 

Vonones  I ,  sent  to  Rome  by  his 
fathjr,  Phraates  IV.,  211  ;  sent 
for,  to  be  king,  by  the  Parthians, 
231  ;  offends  his  sul)jects,  222  ; 
contends  with  Artabaniis,  223 ; 
flies  to  Armenia  and  is  made  king 
by  the  Armenians,  231:  ;  his  ex- 
pulsion demanded  by  Artabanus, 
ib.  ;  flijsto  Syria,  ib.  ;  transferred 
from  Syria  to  Cilicia,  227  ;  at- 
tempts escape  and  is  killed,  ib.  ; 
coin  of,  233  n. 

Vonones  II.,  succeeds  Gotarzes,  261  ; 
his  coins  remarkably  rude,  ib.  ; 
reigns  only  a  few  months,  ib.  ;  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son,  Volagases  I.,  ib. 


W 


\GHARSHAG   {see  Valarsaces) 
Water-tax,  16 


ZOR 

VANTHII,  118 
-t^V     Xenophon,  205 
Xerxes,  16 


VENGHISKHAN,  23 
J-  York,  Severus  dies  at,  347 
Yue-chi,  expelled  from  their  settle- 
ments by  the  Hiong-nu,  115;  oc- 
cupy '1  hibet,  ib.  ;  ]  each  the  Oxus 
and  Caspian,  ib.  ;  cause  a  pressure 
on  Bactria  and  Parthia,  117 ; 
threaten  the  destruction  of  Asiatic 
civilisation,  120 


7AB,  R.,  100,  140,  247,  265 

lJ  Zagros,  M.,  bounds  Media  on  the 
west,  54 ;  passed  by  Antiochus 
the  Great,  55  ;  contains  excellent 
pasture  land,  80 ;  might  have  fur- 
nished a  retreat  to  Antiochus 
Sidctes,  104  ;  country  at  western 
foot  of,  258;  penetrated  by  Avi- 
dins  Cassius,  328 

Zapaortenon,  53  ?i. 

Zaria,   128  n. 

Zendavesta,  22 

Zeno,  made  king  of  Armenia  by 
Germanicus,  226 

Zenodotiuni,  153 

Zeugma,  po.sition  of,  152,  155  n. ; 
Meherdates  at,  256  ;  Titus  at,  288 ; 
Avidius  Cassius  at,  327 

Zipa'tes,  38 

Zoroaster,  precepts  of,  enforced  by 
Artaxerxes,  364 ;  religion  of,  898 


RAWLINSON'S  HISTORICAL  WORKS 


A  leant  has  long  been  felt  for  a  good  edition,  at  a  moderate  price,  of  Eawlinson's 
atttlioritalive  and  inferesfing  works.  The  aim  has  been  to  suppltj  this  want  by  a  com. 
plete  and  lliOWKghly  uell-execuled  edition  in  convenient  form,  and  at  nearly  half  the 
pi-ice  of  the  English  EUitioiis,  the  only  oius  heretofore  obtainable. 


The  Five  Great  Monarchies  of  the  Ancient 
Eastern  World. 

The  History,  Geography,  and  Antiquities  of  ChaMea,  Assyria,  Babylon, 
Media,  and  Persia.  Collected  from  ancient  and  modern  sources.  By 
George  Rawlinson,  M.A.,  Camden  Professor  of  Ancient  History  in 
Oxford  University. 

From  the  latest  English  Edition  Illustrated  with  maps  and  657 
engravings.     3  vols.,  8vo,  handsomely  printed  and  bound,  $9. 

"It  evinces  great  industry,  carefulness,  elaboration,  and  completeness.  His  excel- 
lency consists  in  bringing  together  the  scattered  information  that  exists  respecting  the 
old  monarchies  of  the  world,  and  in  presenting  it  with  lucid  completeness.  Its  great 
merits  the  most  captious  critic  cannot  deny."— Z<>nrfo«,  Athenarcm. 

The  Sixth  Great  Oriental  Monarcliy ; 

Or,  The  Geography,  History,  and  Antiquities  of  Partliia.  By  George 
Rawlinson,  M.A.,  Camden  Professor  of  Ancient  History  in  Oxford 
University.    1  vol ,  8vo,  with  maps  and  illustrations ;  cloth,  gilt  tops,  $3. 

History  of  Ancient  Egypt. 

By  George  Rawlinson,  Camden  Professor  of  Ancient  History  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Oxford,  2  vols.,  8vo,  with  maps  and  illustrations;  cloth, 
gilt  tops,  $6. 


IN  PRESS  (for  early  puhlieation) : 

The  Seven  til  Oriental  3Ionarchy. 

Completing  the  Series. 


DODD,  MEAD  &  COMPANY,  Publishers. 

7SS   BROADWAY,    NEW   YOBK. 


THE  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


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